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The iridescent colors and hovering flight of tiny hummingbirds are a delight in any yard. Invite these birds to your garden by growing their favorite plants - usually those with red tubular flowers. Try bee balms, columbines, begonias, geraniums, impatiens, nasturtiums, petunias, and phlox. Vines, such as morning glories and scarlet runner beans, and shrubs, such as azaleas and hibiscus, will bring hummingbirds flocking.
In or about September the ruby-throated hummingbird will start its journey from central and eastern North America to southern Mexico and Central America. During the trip, it will normally take a nonstop shortcut across 500 miles of the Gulf of Mexico. To accomplish this astonishing feat, this bundle of energy fattens up on nectar from plants like jewelweed - and from hummingbird feeders - increasing its weight by half. Then it relies on its fat reserves to wing across the ocean. |
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Attract berry-loving birds to your yard by growing tempting fruit. Birds love to sink their beaks into the orange berries of mountain ash, the fuzzy red fruit of staghorn sumac, or the red to orange berries of hawthorns and hollies. They'll also go for the whitish blue fruits of junipers and wax myrtles and the red, blue, purple, or black berries of viburnums. And of course, many birds are mulberry maniacs. |
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If you see a large woodpecker feeding on the ground in spring, chances are it's a common flicker. This white-rumped bird inhabits most of North America. It has three major color variations, depending on what part of the country it lives in. It eats more ants than any other North American bird, but it will also gulp down other insects, as well as fruits, seeds, and nuts, especially in fall and winter. You can hear the wick, wick, wick, wick or flick-a, flick-a, flick-a calls of the males in spring. |
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Attracting birds to the yard is an excellent way to keep insect pests down. One way to invite birds to settle in is by offering their favorite plants. These include flowers such as purple coneflowers, bee balm, columbines, cosmos, and sunflowers; shrubs such as barberries, viburnums, and yews; and trees such as flowering crabapple, mountain ash, and Russian olive. |
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