May 6, 2024 • 22 mins
In the 31st episode of The Sunshine Gardening Podcast, host Kristin Hildabrand and guest Annette Heisdorffer discuss strategies for attracting hummingbirds to Kentucky gardens. The episode covers hummingbird characteristics, plant selection, homemade nectar, feeder maintenance, and common challenges. They also share resources for creating hummingbird-friendly gardens. Tune in for expert tips!
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(00:00):
- Welcome to the 31st episode
of the Sunshine GardeningPodcast, the ultimate source
of expert advice and gardeningsecrets for Kentucky.
I'm your host, Kristin Hildebrand.
In this episode, we will delveinto the fascinating world
of hummingbirds with Anettehe Doffer Davis County
Horticulture Extension Agent.
(00:21):
You don't wanna miss this episodeif you're gonna bring more
of these delightfulcreatures to your garden
and create the ultimatehummingbird hotspot.
So sit back, relax,
and get ready to learn some fantastic tips
and tricks to attract hummingbirdsto York, Kentucky Garden.
- Welcome to the SunshineGardening Podcast.
(00:43):
This gardening show will equip
and inspire avid gardeners with tips
and tricks to help themnavigate the gardening world.
The show will also highlightspecific growing requirements
for seasonal plants
so the sun will shine brighterover their Kentucky garden.
And now here's that ray ofSunshine Garden enthusiast
and horticulture extensionagent Kristin Hildebrand
(01:05):
with the University
of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.
- Alright, joining us todayon the Sunshine Gardening
Podcast is Annette Heiser.
How are you today, Annette?
- I'm great.- I am so excited
to have you on the podcast today.
I just like am smiling all over myself
because one of the bestthings that I feel like to do
(01:27):
as a gardener is to watchthe wildlife outside
and you know, sometimes whenwe start talking about wildlife
we think of maybe thingsthat bother our garden,
but we're always so excited
to see the littlehummingbirds return in the
spring here in Kentucky.
And I get a kick outta watchingthem out on the back porch.
'cause generally we have ahummingbird feeder right there.
(01:49):
You're gonna be talking tous specifically about ways
that we can attract hummingbirds in our
garden and our landscape.
So just to kind of get theconversation going here,
can you tell us a little bitmore about specific traits
of the hummingbird that we mightshould consider when trying
to attract them to our gardens?
I know that they've got a lot
(02:11):
of different characteristicsfrom other birds.
- The hummingbirds aredefinitely different,
but they are so fun towatch just being about three
to four inches long, being so tiny
and the things that theycan do, you know, flying up
to about 27 miles per hour ispretty amazing for the Hummer.
Many times it's hard tofind that hummingbird
(02:32):
until you listen first.
Oh there's a hummingbird somewhere
and then you find itwith those hummingbirds.
They have the long bill
and this is the ruby throated hummingbird
that we will find in our area.
And with that long bill,as you can imagine, flowers
that have a tubular shape are those
(02:52):
that the hummingbirds prefer.
They also prefer the colors that are red,
orange, or yellow.
So when we're developing our gardens,
also think about putting those flowers
in a little bit of mass.
Put three or four plants togetherso that they can see them.
They also like plantswith flowers that kind
(03:13):
of hang down a little bit sothey just can stick the bill in
and they're still flying most of the time.
So you don't need to necessarilyhave a perch for them.
We also want to make surethat we make several areas
for them to feed becausethey are territorial.
So put it on one side of the house
(03:34):
and then design another area
where the other birdscan't see each other.
So it might be onanother side of the house
or on the other side of a shed
or someplace that they're not able
to see other hummingbirds.
- That's interesting. I don'tknow if I'd really heard that
before and you know, like
whenever you think about, asyou get on further into the
(03:56):
season, it seems like, youknow, at the beginning it's kind
of slow and then finallywe start to see a lot more
and they do the males anyway.
They really do get, you know, kind
of like this is my spot, don't get in it.
So, and it's fun to kindof watch 'em kind of
dart at each other, I guessis way I would say it.
(04:17):
I know you mentionedthe tubular flower there
and I know you mentioneda couple of colors.
Are there some other essentialelements that you need
to have in a garden to be inviting
for hummingbirds? Here in Kentucky,
- The hummingbirds prefer a place
that has a little bit of cover.
Uh, they don't like it
where they don't have likea wooded area near them.
(04:39):
So it might be a littledifficult for people
to attract hummingbirds in the middle
of an urban area if they don't have trees.
You would also need to have a location
with some water available.
They do like again to go in areas
where they're a little more private,
where they put their nest at.
(04:59):
So again, if you don'thave some cover with trees,
you may have a little bit moretrial with attracting them.
If you have the feeders out, of course
then you'll be attracting them.
So you may see more than ifyou don't have a feeder out,
especially in an areawhere it doesn't have
that nice secluded cover for them.
- Now when you talk about thethe water aspect, I'm sure
(05:19):
that probably several of us listening
to the podcast we may havedifferent water features
in the garden area.
Is there any specificwater feed or water source?
I guess that's good.
I know you, you'regonna talk about feeders
and things like that here in a minute,
but are there any good other sources
that are good for water?
- Just having a, asource of water basically
(05:41):
that they can go ahead andget a little bit of a a drink.
So nothing that I have found
that really is very specificin the water source.
- Okay. I know thatthere are a lot of plants
that it seems like when youstart looking at the tags
of different plants they'llsay attracts hummingbirds.
And you know for us herein Kentucky we have a lot
(06:03):
of good native plants thatseem to be very attractive
for hummingbirds.
But I'm just curious if youcan share with us some of your,
you know, favorite plants for hummingbirds
or ones that have you foundthat have been successful.
- Some of those successfulplants would be something like
the cardinal flower withthat cardinal flower.
It has the bright red color.
(06:24):
That plant can take a littlebit of shade so that's nice.
Another is there are somebee balms that are native,
but there's also uh, a gardenbalm that we like to plant.
Some of the menard might beuh, native to Kentucky mobilia,
the cardinal flower is native.
You might find some native vines such
(06:45):
as the trumpet creeper passion flower.
And then also we have thetrumpet honeysuckle, that's the
ra VIRs.
Some of the other perennialsthat I like to uh,
plant are hawks.
You can include cannas, somede lilies penman, which is uh,
called beer's tongue as a common name.
(07:07):
And then for me, I liketo plant containers
on my back deck and that'swhere my hummingbird comes
and he likes to look formy uh, patas as an annual
red salvia snapdragons.
They will come to somezinnias Sweet Williams.
(07:28):
We can also look at spiderflower cme, which is kind
of an old fashioned plant for some people.
Theum are really nice and youdon't see it too much anymore.
But flowering tobacco negotia,
it's a special shorter variety
that we grow in ourornamentals in our gardens.
- Yeah, those are a nice, uh, flower.
(07:50):
I've seen them in a coupleof arboretums that I visited.
And so it is kind of an interesting plant.
And the clams that you mentionedthere kind of surprised me.
I don't know if I'd heardthat one specifically.
So that's, uh, interestingthat you shared that one.
I know at my house itseems like the hostas,
I guess hummingbirds willgo to about anything,
(08:11):
but it seems like they do tendto visit the hostas at times.
- Yes, the, the hostas are another one
and it's, it's nice thatwe have a variety of hostas
that bloom early and then some bloom later
and on through the summerto provide the food.
The tubular flowers are also a benefit
because some of the insectsare inside that tubular flower
(08:32):
and that's where the hummingbirdis also needing the protein
and that comes from the insects.
So a female who has usually two
or three babies in theirnest who can eat up
to about 2000 insects per day,
- That's mind-bogglingwhen you think about it.
2000 insects.
If we ate like 2000 likelittle insects a day,
(08:55):
that would probably, of course, you know,
that would take a lot for us.
But still, I mean with their flight
and how much they beat perminute, I mean I can see
that they would need a lot more energy
- And especially when you'rea mother feeding the little
ones, their wings can beat upto about 53 times per second.
So it takes a lot of energyfor that little bird so small
(09:20):
to beat the wings 53 times per second.
Now the other unique thing about
hummingbird is they're the only bird
that can fly backwardsand upside down. That
- Is so cool. That is so cool.
- I think that's why, as you mentioned,
when the hummingbirdscome, we are so excited.
I would always grab the kids
(09:40):
and say, Hey look there it's,
there's the hummingbird.
Of course they're kind ofbewildered for a little while, but
after they see it they,they enjoy it too. Mm-Hmm
-, I have alittle one at home myself
and I know she reallyenjoys getting to to see it
and it seems like, you know,they, they get there kind of,
they start feeding early inthe morning and then you know,
(10:02):
whenever it starts gettingdark outside they start
to go back to their nest I guess to kind
of go in for the day.
So I have a question for you,Annette, that I was wanting
to ask you and 'cause we tend
to get this question at the office here.
I'm sure you do there inDavies County as well.
But can you walk us throughthe steps for creating
(10:22):
a homemade hummingbird nectar?
You know, a lot of timespeople will ask is the red dye
appropriate or do weneed to leave it natural?
You know, sometimes we'll getthe question about what's the
perfect ratio of water and sugar.
So I'm hoping you can address that here.
- To make your own mixturefor the hummingbirds,
you would take four parts ofwater to one part of sugar.
(10:46):
So this is the best ratio thatdoes mimic the typical flour.
When you add the water
and the sugar, it needs to beboiled for about two minutes
so that we preventfermentation of that material,
the sugar in the water after it is boiled,
then put it in the refrigerator
(11:08):
and let it cool, cool and refrigerate.
We don't wanna microwave it
because microwaving canchange the molecules
of the sugar and it'd be thennot helpful for the birds.
So we do not wanna microwave it.
And then we do not wanna add any red dye
because the dye can again hurt the birds.
(11:30):
- So no dye, we've heard it here,
-, no dye.
The hummingbird feeders, whenyou purchase them, make sure
that they have some redon the feeder itself
and that would be enough to attract.
The other thing is to notinclude the yellow bee guards.
If they're yellow or any parts yellow,
hopefully you can take that part off
(11:50):
or select a feeder thatdoesn't have any yellow
because that attracts the beets.
If you're having trouble with this mixture
and bees are coming to the feeder,
you can dilute it a littlebit more with with water so
that you do five parts ofwater and then one part sugar.
And that should help with avoiding the
(12:12):
attraction of the bees.
- I know you mentioned that bees
and we tend to get questionsabout that as well,
but do you ever get questions about ants
or any other probleminsects around the feeder?
- Yeah, sometimes thoseants just love to climb up
and down where it's hung.
So for that there is material called
(12:32):
polypropylene that you can put on.
It's a, a sticky repellent.
The sticky repellent wouldbe poly butane. Okay.
And on the, we keep then the, uh,
ants from keeping continuing to crawl,
but then you wanna comeback with a vacuum cleaner
and try to get 'em off becauseyou don't want it all to then
have, uh, as they degradethen it gets kind of yucky
(12:54):
so you wanna get that off.
Um, sometimes you can alsoput shortening on that wire
or string so that it, again,
it keeps the answer from comingdown and visiting into it.
There's also in a publication by Dr.
Tom Barnes through the University
of Kentucky shows a littlemoat that you can build
(13:14):
around the top of the feeder
because the ants don't swim,they can't get down in it
and across it to get to your feed feeder.
- I like those moat options
and I don't know if I really knew about
that until I read Dr.
Barnes's uh, publication as well.
So that seems like that wouldbe very helpful to have along
with the feeders as well.
(13:36):
Now I know you mentionedthe recipe that is preferred
for making the homemadehummingbird nectar.
How often really shouldwe change out that nectar?
You know, in the summertime itcan get really hot and humid
and you know, we wanna makesure we're feeding them clean
hummingbird nectar, but
how often should we replace that nectar
(13:56):
- Early in the season?
If we're not having hummingbirdscome about once a week,
we still have our hummingbirdfeeder full, then we need
to go ahead and dump that, clean it out.
Many times in the main seasonit may be emptied quite often
so make sure you, you are going ahead
and cleaning it at leastonce a week and use soap
(14:19):
and water and then you coulduse something that according
to the label that is a sterile.
- I was gonna say, I know that for some
of my feeders at home,some of them are plastic
and then others are glass.
So it, I don't know, it helpsme, you know, just run it
through the dishwasher, youknow, for the glass option,
(14:39):
you know, to get it good and and clean
because you know, occasionally,
I know you mentioned in thespring it could be a little bit
different depending on howmany hummingbirds we have
depending on the weather.
But then summertime it seemslike as it gets really hot,
you know, that black starts to form inside
and I like to just, I don'tknow, it makes me feel better
(15:00):
- Well and it's betterfor the birds to clean it
and once you start seeinganything like that,
if it's shorter than once a week,
then shorten up the window to clean it.
And that's where lookingat your hummingbird feeder,
make sure you have one that comes apart
so they can take all the piecesapart, the bleach solution,
which would be your sterile lint
(15:20):
that probably should still berun through anytime you wash
and rinse it really well.
And then use the bleach solutionand rinse it really well.
Use that bleach accordingto the container.
- It's almost like you needtwo different feeders so
that way you can change it out, you know,
'cause it seems like as soonas you empty one, you're like,
where did the feeder go?
You know,. So it'salmost like you gotta have one
(15:42):
ready to go and then onethat you can, like you said,
take apart clean
and then clean, you know, replenish
that hummingbird solution.
- That would be a, a great idea
because you know, they're hungry,
- They're, they, they seemto like to feed a lot.
They'll drain it dependingon how many you have.
- So keep an eye on it
to make sure there is food constantly
available for them as well.
(16:03):
- Yes. Now I know we've covered, you know,
a little bit about what'srequired for hummingbirds.
Is there any other things
that you've might'verun into in your career
as a horticulture agent?
Like maybe some commonmistakes that we should try
to avoid when we're trying to attract more
hummingbirds to the landscape.
(16:23):
- Many times it's possibly nothaving quite the right plants
that the hummingbirds will, like,
needing those tubularflowers is so important so
that they can go ahead and get the bill in
and get any of the, even the spiders out
so they can get the, the protein source.
Sometimes it's possiblyhaving a, a situation
where they don't have the nice cover
(16:44):
or a place for thehummingbirds to go to, to nest
where they like to bea little bit secluded.
Many times we forget
to continually fill thehummingbird feeder as well.
- I was gonna say, andI know that, you know,
just from my experience here on the plants
that you just mentioned there,it seems like, you know,
we may have more summer plants for 'em,
(17:07):
but we don't have like, I mean,hummingbirds can stay around
for a while in the fall, is that correct?
- That's correct. They'll stayaround through about October.
They, they can leave,start leaving in July,
but some just don't wanna seem to go.
And it's not because we have plants out,
it's just them procrastinating.
So in order to save thosethat are lagging behind,
(17:30):
just keep the feeders out.
And as you mentioned, plannedfor all season flowers
because some of the, uh, early flocks
and then we have, you know,the late summer flocks,
but yet they don't goall the season either.
So again, that's a greatpoint of making sure
that you have flowersavailable for the hummingbirds
(17:51):
through all of those different seasons.
Don't hesitate to leaveyour hummingbird feeder out.
That's a question I always get.
How long should I leave it out?
Leave it out until you don't see any more
hummingbirds coming by.
It does not stop them from migrating.
- I know we've had somelate visitors in September
and I know that I'm alwaysamazed at, you know,
(18:13):
there's always a few stragglersthat seem to, you know,
follow behind them andyou're kind of surprised.
So I guess you could always,like you said, as you start
to see that, you know, you don't have
to have necessarily a full feeder,
but maybe just half of it full
and then you can replenish as you need it.
So that's, uh, I'm gladyou mentioned that.
(18:34):
Now I know that there'sprobably some great information
for us here in Kentucky.
I know you mentioned onejust in reference there,
but you may have some otherones that you like to use
as well, but if somebody wantedsome additional information
on attracting hummingbirds,
where typically do yourecommend to send them to?
- I would really sendthem to the publication
(18:57):
by Dr. Thomas Barnes thathe wrote on hummingbirds
and attractive asset to your garden.
And Missouri Botanical Garden
is a good place to look for plants.
And then the Cornell Ornithologylab there, you might hear
the sound of the hummingbirds
as they do their little chirp sound.
(19:18):
They really don't have a song,but it's more of chirping
and you can hear some there.
- I always love to hear 'emkind of, you know, especially
with the males going back tothat when they're, you know,
trying to keep thefemales all to themselves.
It, it seems like they go, you know,
it's like they're tryingto, you know, hey,
get away, get away
(19:40):
- M mating call.
And when sometimes we seethem in the early season
as they're mating, the male can fly up
to about 60 miles per hourgoing up in the sky and down
and showing off for the female so that
she will choose him to m with.
- Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's so fascinating
(20:01):
and you have really, you know,
provided us with a lot of great detail
and information today on what,you know, plants are good,
what elements are greatfor Hummingbird Gardens,
and then two, uh,especially helping us out
with the homemade hummingbirdmixture, you know,
what's acceptable for the nectar.
So Annette,
I really appreciate you comingon the Sunshine Gardening
(20:22):
podcast, and I hope that we cansee you again sometime soon.
- I hope so too. And ithas been my pleasure.
- Thank you so much fortuning into another episode
of the Sunshine Gardening podcast.
We hope you enjoyed ourdiscussion on attracting
hummingbirds to your Kentucky Garden.
Remember, with just a few simple steps,
(20:42):
you can create a welcoming environment
for those amazing birds to thrive, thrive.
Be sure to visit ourwebsite@warrencountyagriculture.com
for all the show notesfrom today's episode.
And if you enjoyed what you heard today,
please consider leaving usa review on your favorite
podcast platform.
Your support helps us reach more people
(21:04):
and grow our community.
We're always eager tohear from our listeners.
So if you have any questions, feedback,
or suggestions for future episodes,
please don't hesitate to contact us.
Join us again next time onthe Sunshine Gardening Podcast
for more tips and tricks
for keeping your gardengrowing and thriving.
Until then, keep yourhummingbird feeders full
(21:27):
and happy gardening.
- Thanks for listening to theSunshine Gardening Podcast
with Kristen Hildebrand.
If you enjoy today's content, make sure
to hit the subscribe buttonwherever you get your podcast
to catch future segments
of the Sunshine GardeningPodcast gardeners.
Keep on digging and learningmore about gardening
so the sun shines brighterover your Kentucky Garden.
(21:50):
The Sunshine Gardening Podcasts
with Kristen Hilderbrand is aproduction of the University
of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.
- Welcome to the 31st episode
of the Sunshine GardeningPodcast, the ultimate source
of expert advice and gardeningsecrets for Kentucky.
I'm your host, Kristin Hildebrand.
In this episode, we will delveinto the fascinating world
of hummingbirds with Anettehe Doffer Davis County
Horticulture Extension Agent.
(00:21):
You don't wanna miss this episodeif you're gonna bring more
of these delightfulcreatures to your garden
and create the ultimatehummingbird hotspot.
So sit back, relax,
and get ready to learn some fantastic tips
and tricks to attract hummingbirdsto York, Kentucky Garden.
- Welcome to the SunshineGardening Podcast.
(00:43):
This gardening show will equip
and inspire avid gardeners with tips
and tricks to help themnavigate the gardening world.
The show will also highlightspecific growing requirements
for seasonal plants
so the sun will shine brighterover their Kentucky garden.
And now here's that ray ofSunshine Garden enthusiast
and horticulture extensionagent Kristin Hildebrand
(01:05):
with the University
of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.
- Alright, joining us todayon the Sunshine Gardening
Podcast is Annette Heiser.
How are you today, Annette?
- I'm great.- I am so excited
to have you on the podcast today.
I just like am smiling all over myself
because one of the bestthings that I feel like to do
(01:27):
as a gardener is to watchthe wildlife outside
and you know, sometimes whenwe start talking about wildlife
we think of maybe thingsthat bother our garden,
but we're always so excited
to see the littlehummingbirds return in the
spring here in Kentucky.
And I get a kick outta watchingthem out on the back porch.
'cause generally we have ahummingbird feeder right there.
(01:49):
You're gonna be talking tous specifically about ways
that we can attract hummingbirds in our
garden and our landscape.
So just to kind of get theconversation going here,
can you tell us a little bitmore about specific traits
of the hummingbird that we mightshould consider when trying
to attract them to our gardens?
I know that they've got a lot
(02:11):
of different characteristicsfrom other birds.
- The hummingbirds aredefinitely different,
but they are so fun towatch just being about three
to four inches long, being so tiny
and the things that theycan do, you know, flying up
to about 27 miles per hour ispretty amazing for the Hummer.
Many times it's hard tofind that hummingbird
(02:32):
until you listen first.
Oh there's a hummingbird somewhere
and then you find itwith those hummingbirds.
They have the long bill
and this is the ruby throated hummingbird
that we will find in our area.
And with that long bill,as you can imagine, flowers
that have a tubular shape are those
(02:52):
that the hummingbirds prefer.
They also prefer the colors that are red,
orange, or yellow.
So when we're developing our gardens,
also think about putting those flowers
in a little bit of mass.
Put three or four plants togetherso that they can see them.
They also like plantswith flowers that kind
(03:13):
of hang down a little bit sothey just can stick the bill in
and they're still flying most of the time.
So you don't need to necessarilyhave a perch for them.
We also want to make surethat we make several areas
for them to feed becausethey are territorial.
So put it on one side of the house
(03:34):
and then design another area
where the other birdscan't see each other.
So it might be onanother side of the house
or on the other side of a shed
or someplace that they're not able
to see other hummingbirds.
- That's interesting. I don'tknow if I'd really heard that
before and you know, like
whenever you think about, asyou get on further into the
(03:56):
season, it seems like, youknow, at the beginning it's kind
of slow and then finallywe start to see a lot more
and they do the males anyway.
They really do get, you know, kind
of like this is my spot, don't get in it.
So, and it's fun to kindof watch 'em kind of
dart at each other, I guessis way I would say it.
(04:17):
I know you mentionedthe tubular flower there
and I know you mentioneda couple of colors.
Are there some other essentialelements that you need
to have in a garden to be inviting
for hummingbirds? Here in Kentucky,
- The hummingbirds prefer a place
that has a little bit of cover.
Uh, they don't like it
where they don't have likea wooded area near them.
(04:39):
So it might be a littledifficult for people
to attract hummingbirds in the middle
of an urban area if they don't have trees.
You would also need to have a location
with some water available.
They do like again to go in areas
where they're a little more private,
where they put their nest at.
(04:59):
So again, if you don'thave some cover with trees,
you may have a little bit moretrial with attracting them.
If you have the feeders out, of course
then you'll be attracting them.
So you may see more than ifyou don't have a feeder out,
especially in an areawhere it doesn't have
that nice secluded cover for them.
- Now when you talk about thethe water aspect, I'm sure
(05:19):
that probably several of us listening
to the podcast we may havedifferent water features
in the garden area.
Is there any specificwater feed or water source?
I guess that's good.
I know you, you'regonna talk about feeders
and things like that here in a minute,
but are there any good other sources
that are good for water?
- Just having a, asource of water basically
(05:41):
that they can go ahead andget a little bit of a a drink.
So nothing that I have found
that really is very specificin the water source.
- Okay. I know thatthere are a lot of plants
that it seems like when youstart looking at the tags
of different plants they'llsay attracts hummingbirds.
And you know for us herein Kentucky we have a lot
(06:03):
of good native plants thatseem to be very attractive
for hummingbirds.
But I'm just curious if youcan share with us some of your,
you know, favorite plants for hummingbirds
or ones that have you foundthat have been successful.
- Some of those successfulplants would be something like
the cardinal flower withthat cardinal flower.
It has the bright red color.
(06:24):
That plant can take a littlebit of shade so that's nice.
Another is there are somebee balms that are native,
but there's also uh, a gardenbalm that we like to plant.
Some of the menard might beuh, native to Kentucky mobilia,
the cardinal flower is native.
You might find some native vines such
(06:45):
as the trumpet creeper passion flower.
And then also we have thetrumpet honeysuckle, that's the
ra VIRs.
Some of the other perennialsthat I like to uh,
plant are hawks.
You can include cannas, somede lilies penman, which is uh,
called beer's tongue as a common name.
(07:07):
And then for me, I liketo plant containers
on my back deck and that'swhere my hummingbird comes
and he likes to look formy uh, patas as an annual
red salvia snapdragons.
They will come to somezinnias Sweet Williams.
(07:28):
We can also look at spiderflower cme, which is kind
of an old fashioned plant for some people.
Theum are really nice and youdon't see it too much anymore.
But flowering tobacco negotia,
it's a special shorter variety
that we grow in ourornamentals in our gardens.
- Yeah, those are a nice, uh, flower.
(07:50):
I've seen them in a coupleof arboretums that I visited.
And so it is kind of an interesting plant.
And the clams that you mentionedthere kind of surprised me.
I don't know if I'd heardthat one specifically.
So that's, uh, interestingthat you shared that one.
I know at my house itseems like the hostas,
I guess hummingbirds willgo to about anything,
(08:11):
but it seems like they do tendto visit the hostas at times.
- Yes, the, the hostas are another one
and it's, it's nice thatwe have a variety of hostas
that bloom early and then some bloom later
and on through the summerto provide the food.
The tubular flowers are also a benefit
because some of the insectsare inside that tubular flower
(08:32):
and that's where the hummingbirdis also needing the protein
and that comes from the insects.
So a female who has usually two
or three babies in theirnest who can eat up
to about 2000 insects per day,
- That's mind-bogglingwhen you think about it.
2000 insects.
If we ate like 2000 likelittle insects a day,
(08:55):
that would probably, of course, you know,
that would take a lot for us.
But still, I mean with their flight
and how much they beat perminute, I mean I can see
that they would need a lot more energy
- And especially when you'rea mother feeding the little
ones, their wings can beat upto about 53 times per second.
So it takes a lot of energyfor that little bird so small
(09:20):
to beat the wings 53 times per second.
Now the other unique thing about
hummingbird is they're the only bird
that can fly backwardsand upside down. That
- Is so cool. That is so cool.
- I think that's why, as you mentioned,
when the hummingbirdscome, we are so excited.
I would always grab the kids
(09:40):
and say, Hey look there it's
there's the hummingbird.
Of course they're kind ofbewildered for a little while, but
after they see it they,they enjoy it too. Mm-Hmm
-
and I know she reallyenjoys getting to to see it
and it seems like, you know,they, they get there kind of,
they start feeding early inthe morning and then you know,
(10:02):
whenever it starts gettingdark outside they start
to go back to their nest I guess to kind
of go in for the day.
So I have a question for you,Annette, that I was wanting
to ask you and 'cause we tend
to get this question at the office here.
I'm sure you do there inDavies County as well.
But can you walk us throughthe steps for creating
(10:22):
a homemade hummingbird nectar?
You know, a lot of timespeople will ask is the red dye
appropriate or do weneed to leave it natural?
You know, sometimes we'll getthe question about what's the
perfect ratio of water and sugar.
So I'm hoping you can address that here.
- To make your own mixturefor the hummingbirds,
you would take four parts ofwater to one part of sugar.
(10:46):
So this is the best ratio thatdoes mimic the typical flour.
When you add the water
and the sugar, it needs to beboiled for about two minutes
so that we preventfermentation of that material,
the sugar in the water after it is boiled,
then put it in the refrigerator
(11:08):
and let it cool, cool and refrigerate.
We don't wanna microwave it
because microwaving canchange the molecules
of the sugar and it'd be thennot helpful for the birds.
So we do not wanna microwave it.
And then we do not wanna add any red dye
because the dye can again hurt the birds.
(11:30):
- So no dye, we've heard it here,
-
The hummingbird feeders, whenyou purchase them, make sure
that they have some redon the feeder itself
and that would be enough to attract.
The other thing is to notinclude the yellow bee guards.
If they're yellow or any parts yellow,
hopefully you can take that part off
(11:50):
or select a feeder thatdoesn't have any yellow
because that attracts the beets.
If you're having trouble with this mixture
and bees are coming to the feeder,
you can dilute it a littlebit more with with water so
that you do five parts ofwater and then one part sugar.
And that should help with avoiding the
(12:12):
attraction of the bees.
- I know you mentioned that bees
and we tend to get questionsabout that as well,
but do you ever get questions about ants
or any other probleminsects around the feeder?
- Yeah, sometimes thoseants just love to climb up
and down
So for that there is material called
(12:32):
polypropylene that you can put on.
It's a, a sticky repellent.
The sticky repellent wouldbe poly butane. Okay.
And on the, we keep then the, uh,
ants from keeping continuing to crawl,
but then you wanna comeback with a vacuum cleaner
and try to get 'em off becauseyou don't want it all to then
have, uh, as they degradethen it gets kind of yucky
(12:54):
so you wanna get that off.
Um, sometimes you can alsoput shortening on that wire
or string so that it, again,
it keeps the answer from comingdown and visiting into it.
There's also in a publication by Dr.
Tom Barnes through the University
of Kentucky shows a littlemoat that you can build
(13:14):
around the top of the feeder
because the ants don't swim,they can't get down in it
and across it to get to your feed feeder.
- I like those moat options
and I don't know if I really knew about
that until I read Dr.
Barnes's uh, publication as well.
So that seems like that wouldbe very helpful to have along
with the feeders as well.
(13:36):
Now I know you mentionedthe recipe that is preferred
for making the homemadehummingbird nectar.
How often really shouldwe change out that nectar?
You know, in the summertime itcan get really hot and humid
and you know, we wanna makesure we're feeding them clean
hummingbird nectar, but
how often should we replace that nectar
(13:56):
- Early in the season?
If we're not having hummingbirdscome about once a week,
we still have our hummingbirdfeeder full, then we need
to go ahead and dump that, clean it out.
Many times in the main seasonit may be emptied quite often
so make sure you, you are going ahead
and cleaning it at leastonce a week and use soap
(14:19):
and water and then you coulduse something that according
to the label that is a sterile.
- I was gonna say, I know that for some
of my feeders at home,some of them are plastic
and then others are glass.
So it, I don't know, it helpsme, you know, just run it
through the dishwasher, youknow, for the glass option,
(14:39):
you know, to get it good and and clean
because you know, occasionally,
I know you mentioned in thespring it could be a little bit
different depending on howmany hummingbirds we have
depending on the weather.
But then summertime it seemslike as it gets really hot,
you know, that black starts to form inside
and I like to just, I don'tknow, it makes me feel better
(15:00):
-
and once you start seeinganything like that,
if it's shorter than once a week,
then shorten up the window to clean it.
And that's where lookingat your hummingbird feeder,
make sure you have one that comes apart
so they can take all the piecesapart, the bleach solution,
which would be your sterile lint
(15:20):
that probably should still berun through anytime you wash
and rinse it really well.
And then use the bleach solutionand rinse it really well.
Use that bleach accordingto the container.
- It's almost like you needtwo different feeders so
that way you can change it out, you know,
'cause it seems like as soonas you empty one, you're like,
where did the feeder go?
You know,
(15:42):
ready to go and then onethat you can, like you said,
take apart clean
and then clean, you know, replenish
that hummingbird solution.
- That would be a, a great idea
because you know, they're hungry,
- They're, they, they seemto like to feed a lot.
They'll drain it dependingon how many you have.
- So keep an eye on it
to make sure there is food constantly
available for them as well.
(16:03):
- Yes. Now I know we've covered, you know,
a little bit about what'srequired for hummingbirds.
Is there any other things
that you've might'verun into in your career
as a horticulture agent?
Like maybe some commonmistakes that we should try
to avoid when we're trying to attract more
hummingbirds to the landscape.
(16:23):
- Many times it's possibly nothaving quite the right plants
that the hummingbirds will, like,
needing those tubularflowers is so important so
that they can go ahead and get the bill in
and get any of the, even the spiders out
so they can get the, the protein source.
Sometimes it's possiblyhaving a, a situation
where they don't have the nice cover
(16:44):
or a place for thehummingbirds to go to, to nest
where they like to bea little bit secluded.
Many times we forget
to continually fill thehummingbird feeder as well.
- I was gonna say, andI know that, you know,
just from my experience here on the plants
that you just mentioned there,it seems like, you know,
we may have more summer plants for 'em,
(17:07):
but we don't have like, I mean,hummingbirds can stay around
for a while in the fall, is that correct?
- That's correct. They'll stayaround through about October.
They, they can leave,start leaving in July,
but some just don't wanna seem to go.
And it's not because we have plants out,
it's just them procrastinating.
So in order to save thosethat are lagging behind,
(17:30):
just keep the feeders out.
And as you mentioned, plannedfor all season flowers
because some of the, uh, early flocks
and then we have, you know,the late summer flocks,
but yet they don't goall the season either.
So again, that's a greatpoint of making sure
that you have flowersavailable for the hummingbirds
(17:51):
through all of those different seasons.
Don't hesitate to leaveyour hummingbird feeder out.
That's a question I always get.
How long should I leave it out?
Leave it out until you don't see any more
hummingbirds coming by.
It does not stop them from migrating.
- I know we've had somelate visitors in September
and I know that I'm alwaysamazed at, you know,
(18:13):
there's always a few stragglersthat seem to, you know,
follow behind them andyou're kind of surprised.
So I guess you could always,like you said, as you start
to see that, you know, you don't have
to have necessarily a full feeder,
but maybe just half of it full
and then you can replenish as you need it.
So that's, uh, I'm gladyou mentioned that.
(18:34):
Now I know that there'sprobably some great information
for us here in Kentucky.
I know you mentioned onejust in reference there,
but you may have some otherones that you like to use
as well, but if somebody wantedsome additional information
on attracting hummingbirds,
where typically do yourecommend to send them to?
- I would really sendthem to the publication
(18:57):
by Dr. Thomas Barnes thathe wrote on hummingbirds
and attractive asset to your garden.
And Missouri Botanical Garden
is a good place to look for plants.
And then the Cornell Ornithologylab there, you might hear
the sound of the hummingbirds
as they do their little chirp sound.
(19:18):
They really don't have a song,but it's more of chirping
and you can hear some there.
- I always love to hear 'emkind of, you know, especially
with the males going back tothat when they're, you know,
trying to keep thefemales all to themselves.
It, it seems like they go, you know,
it's like they're tryingto, you know, hey,
get away, get away
(19:40):
- M mating call.
And when sometimes we seethem in the early season
as they're mating, the male can fly up
to about 60 miles per hourgoing up in the sky and down
and showing off for the female so that
she will choose him to m with.
- Yeah. Yeah, it's, it's so fascinating
(20:01):
and you have really, you know,
provided us with a lot of great detail
and information today on what,you know, plants are good,
what elements are greatfor Hummingbird Gardens,
and then two, uh,especially helping us out
with the homemade hummingbirdmixture, you know,
what's acceptable for the nectar.
So Annette,
I really appreciate you comingon the Sunshine Gardening
(20:22):
podcast, and I hope that we cansee you again sometime soon.
- I hope so too. And ithas been my pleasure.
- Thank you so much fortuning into another episode
of the Sunshine Gardening podcast.
We hope you enjoyed ourdiscussion on attracting
hummingbirds to your Kentucky Garden.
Remember, with just a few simple steps,
(20:42):
you can create a welcoming environment
for those amazing birds to thrive, thrive.
Be sure to visit ourwebsite@warrencountyagriculture.com
for all the show notesfrom today's episode.
And if you enjoyed what you heard today,
please consider leaving usa review on your favorite
podcast platform.
Your support helps us reach more people
(21:04):
and grow our community.
We're always eager tohear from our listeners.
So if you have any questions, feedback,
or suggestions for future episodes,
please don't hesitate to contact us.
Join us again next time onthe Sunshine Gardening Podcast
for more tips and tricks
for keeping your gardengrowing and thriving.
Until then, keep yourhummingbird feeders full
(21:27):
and happy gardening.
- Thanks for listening to theSunshine Gardening Podcast
with Kristen Hildebrand.
If you enjoy today's content, make sure
to hit the subscribe buttonwherever you get your podcast
to catch future segments
of the Sunshine GardeningPodcast gardeners.
Keep on digging and learningmore about gardening
so the sun shines brighterover your Kentucky Garden.
(21:50):
The Sunshine Gardening Podcasts
with Kristen Hilderbrand is aproduction of the University
of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service.
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