Tips to Attracting Hummingbirds  to Your Backyard      

The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is often found between woodland and meadow.  However, it has adapted well to human development, but only if there is shelter, space and food. Therefore, it is frequently seen in suburban backyards with mature trees and shrubs, in wooded parks, and around farmsteads.

The Keys to Attracting Hummingbirds are to provide food, help for nesting, and misters (water) for them to fly through.

Hummingbirds are extremely loyal to feeding sites.  A hummingbird that feeds in your yard one year will return to that feeder the next.  If you aren't attracting as many hummers as you want, read on. Since the male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is so territorial, one key is to offer lots of feeders. Keep the feeder clean and the nectar fresh.  Hummingbirds keep their distance from fermented nectar.

A hummingbird nest is not much bigger than a quarter, and often it contains just 2-3 eggs no bigger than small peas. It's typically hard to see, as it blends in well to the tree branch it's attached to, and is constructed of fine animal or plant down and moss or lichens.

Hummer Facts:

Hummers take about 250 breaths per minute.

Their hearts beat about 1,260 times per minute.

Hummingbirds have approximately 1,500 feathers.

They consume half their body weight (1/8lb) in food every day.  That would be like an average kid eating about 40 to 50 pounds of food a day.

During migration, they must fly 500 miles nonstop over the Gulf of Mexico to reach their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America.  To make the trip, they must eat enough so they weigh 1 1/2 times their usual weight.

Hummers can fly at speeds of 60 miles an hour and can fly forwards, backwards, up, down, sideways, and even upside down briefly, but they can't walk.

Hummer average life span is 3-5 years maximum of 12 years.