Hummingbirds

[Roll With It]

Good morning Villagers! I am trying to attract hummingbirds to my yard. Do any of you see hummingbirds in your yard? If so, what is attracting them? I have never seen a hummingbird and it's on my bucket list. Thank you in advance for your help.

[Bill32]

We have some from time to time, try a google search for plants that attract...

[bagboy]

Good morning Villagers! I am trying to attract hummingbirds to my yard. Do any of you see hummingbirds in your yard? If so, what is attracting them? I have never seen a hummingbird and it's on my bucket list. Thank you in advance for your help.

We have tried feeders without much success. We get an occasional hummingbird near our Mexican Petunias. To attract them consistently, my guess is to plant the flowers and shrubs that have been shown to draw them.

[Jima64]

although it might seem like fun to place your feeder up near your back porch you might want to give the birds some space. I have one close and one farther away and the farther one is where they will feed. the numbers have been down the past two years for us. never a lot anyway. remember most are migrating birds except for I believe two species native to Florida.

[Topspinmo]

Rarely see one up by Lopez, maybe seen two in five years I’ve been here, when my bushes blooms I see some hummingbird moths on them.

[FenneyFanatic]

Hummingbirds love my bottlebrush tree..

[tophcfa]

I could be wrong on this, but in general I don’t think hummingbirds spend lots of time in the Villages area. They definitely stop by the area during migration. In the winter hummingbirds commonly go further south, often to South America and the Caribbean and during the winter they go further north. We have migratory humming birds at our home in the Berkshires from early May through mid September. Our first little friends showed up last week, but are now wishing they waited a little longer because it has been unseasonably cold. We were very worried about them last Friday night when it got to the low 20’s with strong winds and snow flurries, but they made it through it. I think all the sugar water my wife puts out for them helped give them the energy to hunker down and make it through the cold stretch.

[juneroses]

Ruby throat hummers first make their appearance in my Villages garden in the first half of March and continue to visit until sometime in the fall. Among the plants they favor are:

Coral honeysuckle (lonicera sempervirens)-NOT the invasive japanese honeysuckle
Firebush (hamelia patens)
Tropical sage (salvia coccinea)-red, pink or white; self seeds
Shrimp plant (justicia brandegeana)
Autumn sage (salvia greggii): despite the name, it blooms for 3 seasons
Anise scented sage (salvia guaranitica)-many named varieties
Orange Flame (justicia chrysostephana)-an orange pompom on glossy quilted foliage
Firespike (odontonema strictum)-red spikes appear in late summer
Tall red pentas-sometimes called heirloom pentas; frequently a passalong or obtain from a plant nursery; mine easily grew 4’ tall
“David Verity” cuphea-taller than “Vermillionaire”
“Vermillionaire” cuphea – a hummer favorite in my yard; good plant size for near the lanai where you can watch them nectar and still
see into the yard
Candy corn plant: Cuphea micropetala – flower looks like those of the two cupheas mentioned above but I found the plant grew
much bigger than either (too big for my purposes)
Firecracker plant (russelia equisetiformis)

The above are plants with which I have had personal success. I know there are others.

I gave up on feeders...the hummers preferred the plants. I’ve had up to 4 in the yard but they’re territorial and don’t like to share. On multiple occasions I’ve watched one sitting on the branch of a tree, just waiting for an invader to dare descend on the salvia for a snack. With a quick dive toward the offender they’re off, twittering and fussing. And then the guard hummer returns to his perch on the limb and waits.

[Joelack99]

There is a trick to the feeders. Since we learned it we have the ruby throated ones much more frequently. It needs to be red, of course, that stands out to them, hung several feet from the house, preferably in partial shade—and you need to feed them the right stuff: plain white sugar dissolved in boiling water—1 cup sugar in 4 cups water—then chilled—keeps a week or two in the fridge. The real trick is changing the nectar out every couple of days when the weather is hot, cleaning the feeder thoroughly so no mold grows in it. Fermented nectar or mold will make them very sick so don’t bother if you can’t keep up with it. If you can, it’s worth it. We only put out a quarter to half a cup at a time, and keep changing it.

Ants will go for it too. You can pick up “ant moats” at Lowes.

[davem4616]

humming birds are truly a joy to attract....other posts have given you ideas on the plants that will attract them...make sure that the humming bird feeder liquid is red...we had luck placing the feeder in the shade near the plants that would attract them

good luck....they do make a lot of noise if it's only a screen that is between you and them

[polaris]

Audubon Society recommends not adding color to make the nectar red. The birds don’t need the unnecessary chemicals. Most feeders have red parts which attract the birds. The nectar should just be sugar and water in the 1:4 sugar/water ratio mentioned above.

[Slapnut]

They are attracted to a plant called fire bush. You can get these at home depot garden department or Lowe's. Or you can try some landscaping companies

[Donnie&Viv]

We would have them regularly during certain periods of time. They came and feed on our Mexican Petunias.

[PugMom]

i've seen them in our end of town.sometimes they're so tiny they can be mistaken for a large bug, lol. a lady a few streets away has the plastic type feeder you put nectar in, & it works for her. good luck!!

[thevillager1988]

We were thrilled to see one fluttering around our firecracker plant!

[kendi]

Good morning Villagers! I am trying to attract hummingbirds to my yard. Do any of you see hummingbirds in your yard? If so, what is attracting them? I have never seen a hummingbird and it's on my bucket list. Thank you in advance for your help.

New to Florida so I don’t know the plants yet. But if you’re interested in feeding them it’s best to put up the feeder as soon as they return from migrating they do that here. Otherwise at the beginning of their nesting season. Once they establish their territory they stay in that feeding area. They will usually return to the same location each year

[alcon]

Try planting some hummingbird plants. Yes, there is such a plant. I have 4 of them and they do attract them. But those little birds are quick. You have to be looking out for them or they are gone in a flash if they see you.

[Joe C.]

I haven't seen a hummingbird in the three years that I've been here. When I lived in Vermont, they would show up the first week of May each year and stay until the end of September. I hung a feeder at each end of the porch and stuck one on the window in the back of the cabin. They were a joy to observe all thru the summer. In May, if I didn't have the feeder out, they would flutter in the front window until I saw them. As soon as I put the feeder up, they were feeding within a minute or two.
I tried feeders down here with no success. Last week I went to the nursery and bought some shrubs that attract them. Hopefully next year or so, I'll be back to enjoying their company.

[Fiona]

Good morning Villagers! I am trying to attract hummingbirds to my yard. Do any of you see hummingbirds in your yard? If so, what is attracting them? I have never seen a hummingbird and it's on my bucket list. Thank you in advance for your help.

Any plant that's red in color. Also have a feeder that is red. Use one cup sugar to one cup boiling water. Let cool. You'll have alot of them!

[SunnyHester]

We have several native Florida plants that attract pollinators. (FNPS - Florida Native Plant Society website - and group here in The Villages) In addition, we have a feeder with a homemade syrup of 1:2 sugar to water which attracks humingbirds. Most of the activity seems to be our migrators in March - May and again September - November. Although we do have two species (as previously said) that reside here in Central Florida. Good luck and have fun!

[DonnaNi4os]

Hummingbirds have a personal meaning for me and I wish I saw more of them. They apparently don’t like the hot sun so when I have seen them it has been very early in the morning or at dusk. My daughter-in-law in NJ called me yesterday to tell me that there was one on their deck that hovered for about a minute. It’s cold in NJ right now so go figure! I have been told that they really love the bottlebrush tree and bush so I’d go with that.

[Marykess1802]

They are attracted to a plant called fire bush. You can get these at home depot garden department or Lowe's. Or you can try some landscaping companies

I get 5-6 at a time, daily, to my large fire bush (TDSS)

[Janet silverston]

We get a lot of hummingbirds. They love shrimp plants, flowering trees and playing around the bamboo. I luv watching them. Good luck!

[Jtcoggin@bellsouth.net]

Flowers which are red and yellow attract hummers big time. The feeder works better when in the shade or partial shade.

[Roll With It]

Wow, thank you so much for this helpful information!

[Bellavita]

My hummingbird loves my native Salvia they prefer it to a feeder

[LynneH]

We planted Bee Balm and Butterfly Weed in pots with a feeder inbetween.

[mooned]

Good morning Villagers! I am trying to attract hummingbirds to my yard. Do any of you see hummingbirds in your yard? If so, what is attracting them? I have never seen a hummingbird and it's on my bucket list. Thank you in advance for your help.

Hi I was standing in the yard next to the only plant in the yard, a red hibiscus potted plant, and a humming bird flew over and started feeding on the blooms. Got out our feeders and shepherd's hook and set it up right next to the potted plant. Within an hour we saw birds feeding from the feeder. After two weeks they are coming by every few minutes and have even had a couple of them fighting over the feeder. We use a mixture of 1 cup of water to 1/4 cup of sugar. Good luck they are fun to watch.

[mooned]

Photo shot through lanai screen.

[Mumbles]

Good morning Villagers! I am trying to attract hummingbirds to my yard. Do any of you see hummingbirds in your yard? If so, what is attracting them? I have never seen a hummingbird and it's on my bucket list. Thank you in advance for your help.

Well , I've experienced hummingbirds in my side yard, but they all flew away in a minute when I walked out there. Not certain why. But, I asked my wife to stand on the lawn for about an hour, and she attracted all kinds of honey bees and humming birds.:clap2:

[John Paul]

Try honeysuckle vine or bottlebrush. Have had great success with the honeysuckle.

[Dianalea]

I used to have tons of hummers (and other birds) every summer in Ohio and they ARE a delight to watch. We now live in a courtyard villa which we love but I've been advised not to have any type of birdfeeder because they'll attract snakes,,, rats, and something else 😞

[Roll With It]

Photo shot through lanai screen.

Thank you!

[Roll With It]

Thank you to all who gave me wonderful advice. I now have an extensive list of plants to look for when I go shopping. My fellow Villagers are always so helpful. I knew I could count on you!

[Shawn70]

Red or pink flowers

[jsam01]

We are in Osceola Hills and we see them pretty frequently. They seem to like the firebush