Humming Bird Food

Humming Bird picture by Michelle Lynn Reynolds

Humming birds are usually spotted when they enter our gardens to feed from brightly coloured flower blossoms, and this makes it tempting to assume that Humming bird food consists of nectar alone. The truth is however that most Humming birds use the calorie rich nectar to become more enduring insect hunters. They depend on insects to provide them with protein and necessary nutrients. When the Humming bird is raising its offspring, it must catch even more insects since the young Humming birds needs this type of food to grow. Humming bird food is therefore made up by both nectar and insects.

The Humming bird is known to be especially found of red flowers and can be very investigative when it comes across other red coloured items. This does not mean that only red flowers are considered Humming bird food by the bird; Humming birds will happily feed from a wide range of different coloured blossoms. Many people purchase man made Humming bird food containers in hope of drawing Humming birds to their garden, but planting flowers that are known to attract Humming birds will work just as well. You can naturally also combine both methods and hang a man made Humming bird feeder next to some colourful and nectar filled plants that can be easily spotted by passing Humming birds.

Which plant species to recommend as Humming bird food will naturally depend on where you live. Humming birds can be found from Alaska and Canada to the southernmost tip of Argentina. The Humming birds are for instance known to appreciate many different types of fuchsias, verbenas, heliconias, penstemons and bromeliads. The Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) is just one example of a popular garden plant that will be appreciated by humans and Humming birds alike. The Coral Honeysuckle is a drought-tolerant and comparatively low maintenance vine that produces plenty of red, trumpet shaped flowers. Due to the form of the flowers, the plant is also known as Trumpet Honeysuckle. The Coral Honeysuckle is not only a popular Humming bird food ;it is also loved by mockingbirds, bluebirds and cedar waxwings that come to feed on its red berries during fall. The Humming birds’ beak is aptly suited for extracting nectar from the trumpet shaped Coral Honeysuckle flower.

If you have Humming birds in your garden, you should ideally refrain from using pesticides since the Hummingbirds need small insects as Humming bird food . The Humming birds can also be poisoned by the pesticides. Keep in mind that Humming birds are very small animals. A dose of pesticide lethal enough to kill a large insect might be enough to kill a Humming bird too, or make it really sick.

Humming birds are more or less constantly searching for suitable Humming bird food since their high metabolism can make them starve to death within hours without food, provided that they are flying around. A resting Humming bird will require less Humming bird food and can even place itself in a semi-hibernating state called torpor to conserve energy. During torpor, the bird will breathe really slow and decrease its heartbeat down to 50 and 180 beats per minute. This can be compared to the 1260 heartbeats once measured in a flying Blue-throated hummingbird (Lampornis clemenciae).