Hummingbird Facts & Myths

Ruby-throated Hummingbird is the only hummingbird that nests in the eastern United States. There are a few others that can occur in extremely small numbers in the late fall, but they are really rare.

The ringing/buzzing noise you hear from ruby-throated hummingbirds as they fly by is from their wings, which beat about 53 times per second. The twittering sound (often when they are acting territorial) is from their throat.

Nests are made with fibers and lichens held together with spider webs. Best time to put feeders out is the last week of April or the first week of May.

Red dye in the nectar in hummingbird feeders is not beneficial or harmful – but you don’t need it. Actually the color of the nectar is not important, but the color of the feeding port is what attracts the hummingbird, most feeders are red. The myth that the red dye may be harmful has never been proven in any published studies.

To make your own nectar, combine 4 parts boiling water to 1 part sugar. Let it cool before you refill the feeder and put it out.

Feeders need to be cleaned at least each week. Cleaning more frequently is easier (no mold grows) and probably better for the birds. Choosing feeders that are easy to clean is good, too.

Don’t worry about ants in feeders. Adults eat both nectar and insects, sometimes they will lap up the ants – sort of a surf & turf meal.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds burn energy so quickly, they must consume more than its own weight in insects and nectar every day to stay alive. To stay alive in adverse conditions when no food can be found hummingbirds can enter a special state called torpor, similar to what we term hibernation in mammals, in which their metabolism slows down tremendously. A hummingbird in torpor is almost impossible to awaken!

Great plants to attract hummingbirds to your garden include: Bee Balm (Monarda), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea), and Butterfly Bush (Buddlia). They are also very easy to maintain, need less water than other plants, and look GREAT together. The Bee Balm and Butterfly Bush come in many varieties – plant a few different types to have staggered bloom times.

A hummingbird will migrate even if you do not take down your feeders in the fall. All birds that migrate, including hummingbirds, do so according to a genetic predisposition. The timing of migration is most likely triggered by the length of the day, and not the availability of food. A bird which fails to migrate, due to injury, illness, or genetic miswiring may be seen at feeders off season only because of the available food there. Leaving feeders up in really cold weather can injure the hummingbird’s bill – it is rare, but still nothing you want to have happen. With this in mind it is best to take the feeders down before freezing nights become common.