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WEIGELA – AN ATTRACTIVE SHRUB FOR HUMMINGBIRD FANS

If you are searching for an attractive shrub that attracts hummingbirds, you should give serious thought to buying a weigela (Weigela x Florida); it produces a crop of long-lasting, red, trumpet-shaped blooms. The blossoms grow singly and in clusters.

The shrub’s blooming period extends from late spring into summer.

This shrub is capable of becoming 6 to 8 feet tall and 9 to 12 feet wide. However, none of the weigelas my wife and I have grown in our Middle Georgia yard has ever grown that large.

The only weigela we have planted also goes by the name Old Fashioned Weigela. This variety bears red flowers. A dozen or more different varieties of weigela are on the market. While they may attract hummingbirds, I personally cannot vouch for them.

Weigela produces the most flowers when planted in full sun, however, it also grows in partial shade. Once this shrub is established, it is quite drought-tolerant.

If you have a problem with deer pruning your plants, you will be pleased to know that weigela is not high on the white-tailed deer’s list of preferred browse plants.

RUBYTHOATED HUMMINGBIRDS RETURN TO GEORGIA IN MARCH

March is the month ruby-throated hummingbirds return to Georgia.

Over the years, countless Georgia hummingbird enthusiasts have told me that they saw the first hummingbird of the year hovering in the spot where a hummingbird feeder hung outside their kitchen window a year earlier.

With that in mind, if you do not already have a hummingbird feeder hanging in your backyard, there is no better time to hang a feeder in your backyard than right now.

The first ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive in South Georgia in late February and early March. On the average, from there, they make their way northward at a rate of about 23 miles per day. By March 20, the birds reach Middle Georgia. The first northbound birds arrive in North Georgia in late March and early April.

The first hummingbirds to arrive are males; the females make an appearance about 10 days later.

Let me know when the first male and female rubythroats arrive in your backyard.

FOLKS ONCE THOUGHT HUMMINGBIRDS DID NOT MIGRATE

As we anxiously await the arrival of the first ruby-throated hummingbird, there is no better time to reflect on the fact that early colonists did not believe that ruby-throated hummingbirds migrated all. Here is one theory that was put forth to explain the disappearance of hummingbirds at the end of summer.

A book published in 1651 named The Pennsylvania Cyclopedia offered a bizarre explanation why hummingbirds vanished at the end of the growing season. According to this tome when the flowers visited by hummingbirds throughout the year faded away, the birds did not migrate to places where flowers bloomed throughout the winter. Instead, they simply stuck their long bills into the trunks of trees. Here they remained motionless until spring rains began to fall. At that time, they would miraculously come back to life and resume their quest for nectar.

BACKYARD SECRET—SAPSUCKERS SUPPLY FOOD TO MIGRATING RUBYTHROATED HUMMINGBIRDS

An amazing relationship exists between migrating yellow-bellied sapsucker and the ruby-throated hummingbird. It seems that yellow-bellied sapsuckers help fuel the ruby-hummingbird’s migration northward each spring.

Beginning in March each year yellow-bellied sapsuckers leave the Peach State and begin flying home to their breeding grounds in eastern Canada and our northeastern states. As the sapsuckers make their way northward, they often stop every so often and feed for a couple of weeks or so before moving on. As expected, at each stopover area the birds chisel out numerous sap wells in a variety of trees. This provides them with an energy-rich source of fuel that will enable them to complete their long journey.

Often ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate to their northern breeding grounds some two to three after the sapsuckers leave. Since they are heading north at a time when nectar plants are typically in short supply, food is often at a premium.

While hummingbird fanciers that hang hummingbird feeders outside their homes in late winter and early spring help feed the migrants along the way, they alone cannot provide enough food for all of the migrating birds.

Here is where yellow-bellied sapsucker plays an important role in feeding ruby-throated hummingbirds that are also flying north. The tiny rubythroats dine on the sucrose and amino acid-laden tree sap they obtain from sapsucker wells. Sapsuckers drill lots of holes whenever they locate an excellent source of tree sap. Consequently, when they abandon these sap wells to resume their journey home they unwittingly leave behind a valuable source of food needed by tiny hummers that are following behind them.

Once again, sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.

COLUMBINE IS A GREAT ADDITION TO YOUR HUMMINGBIRD GARDEN

Although spring is still weeks away, it is not too early to begin thinking about what you are going to plant in your hummingbird gardens. My wife and I are already making decisions as to what we are going to be adding to our gardens. If you are doing the same, I would like to suggest you consider planting eastern columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis).

It is a native woodland plant here in the Peach State that also grows in full sun. There are a number of species of columbines that grow in the western United States; however, the eastern columbine is the only one native to Georgia.

One thing that I like about this plant is its blossoms. As you can readily see from the accompanying photo, the red and yellow blooms are unlike any of our other wildflowers.

While both sweat bees and bumblebees visit the flowers, the plant’s main pollinator is the ruby-throated hummingbird.

Interestingly the blossoms of this red columbine contain almost twice and much nectar as columbines sporting blossoms with other colors.

If you are looking for a native hummingbird nectar plant that is beautiful, unique, and a great source of food for one of your favorite birds, plant a patch of eastern columbines.

PROTECTING HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS FROM FREEZING

For days, the United States Weather Bureau has been warning us that severe cold weather in about to blanket Georgia. If these prognostications prove to be correct, this weekend temperatures will plummeted into the teens. For those Georgians that are currently hosting, or hope to host, a hummingbird in their backyard this winter, this is disturbing news. Obviously, hummingbirds cannot feed on frozen nectar. In addition, if the nectar in feeders freezes the feeders often break. A hummingbird feeding solution of four parts water to one part sugar typically does not freeze until the temperature dips below 25ºF. If the temperature drops lower, feeders can be taken in at night and replaced the next morning. Another option is to use a light to keep hummingbird food from freezing. Many folks use a 150-watt bulb mounted in a light fixture attached to an alligator clip placed near a feeder to provide the heat needed to keep nectar from freezing on a cold winter night.

If the temperature remains freezing for a few days, you might find that you have to change out feeders during the day. In this way, hummingbirds will have access to an uninterrupted supply of sugar water.

THE RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD POPULATION IS DECLINING

According to a recently published report entitled 2022 State of the Birds, the rufous hummingbird population is in decline. The rufous hummingbird has lost half its total population during the past 50 years. In addition, there is a very real chance that it will plummet another 50 percent during the next half century.

The rufous hummingbird nests primarily in Washington and Oregon, north through Canada’s western provinces all the way to southeastern Alaska.

The vast majority of rufous hummingbirds’ winter in Mexico, however, for decades many have annually wintered in the Southeast. In fact, it is the most commonly seen hummingbird during the winter in Georgia.

MOCKINGBIRDS ARE DINING ON POKEBERRIES

I try to keep abreast of what the wildlife eats throughout the year. This exercise has allowed me to watch how the food habits of a number of my backyard residents change throughout the year. Recently I was reminded of this fact as I watched a northern mockingbird dine on pokeberries.

Throughout the spring and much of the summer mockingbirds I watched them dining on suet, insects, blackberries, and other delicacies. Then seemingly, overnight birds seemed to abandon the places where they had been feeding. Last week they reappeared at pokeweeds that have colonized my property. The birds were dining on the plants’ juicy, purplish-black berries. While I have only seen mockingbirds eating the berries so far this summer, I suspect they have to share them with other backyard residents such as brown thrashers, eastern bluebirds, cardinals and even red-bellied woodpeckers.

The first time I witnessed a mockingbird eating pokeberries a couple of weeks ago the bird was having a difficult time plucking them from a cluster of fruit dangling from a droopy branch. Since it was seemingly impossible for the bird to perch on the flimsy branch and dine of the berries at the same time, it was forced to attempt to hover close to the berries. It immediately became obvious that the mockingbird’s ability to hover will never be favorably compared with that of a hummingbird. In spite of this, after several tries grab the berries, the cluster of berries eventually disappeared into the mouth of the determined bird.

If you find pokeberry plants sprouting in an out-of-the-way spot in your yard, let them grow. If you do, you will be rewarded with an attractive plant, and a great source of food for birds and other wildlife. In addition, you will be offered with some great wildlife viewing opportunities and the chance to learn more about the feeding habits of wildlife without having to leave your home.

BACKYARD SECRET—HUMMINGBIRDS MIGRATE ALONE

During the past few days, the number of ruby-throated hummingbirds visiting our feeders has noticeably decreased. Whereas less than a week ago clouds hummingbirds were constantly swirling about backyard feeders, now a handful of birds are visiting them. Indeed, the hummingbird migration is in full swing.

When most of the birds vanish at the same time, it is easy to believe they migrate in flocks like robins, ducks, geese, and a host of other species. However, the truth of the matter is each bird migrates on its own. This means a rubythroat raised in your backyard this year does not have an older and more experienced bird to guide it on its first migration flight to its wintering ground in southern Mexico and Panama.

How is this possible? Biologists have still not unlocked this secret. Consequently, the best way to explain it is that hummingbirds migrate by instinct.

BREAKING NEWS – HUMMINGBIRDS DO HAVE A SENSE OF SMELL

We have long been aware that hummingbirds have great eyesight and hearing. However, biologists have unable to demonstrate that hummingbirds could smell. However, recent studies conducted by researchers at the University of California Riverside have revealed for the first time that hummingbirds can smell insects that pose a danger to them while they are visiting flowers bearing nectar. The findings also suggest that this ability helps them avoid danger while feeding.

According to Erin Wilson Rankin, associate entomology professor and coauthor author of the paper that was published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, “This is pretty exciting, as it is the first clear demonstration of hummingbirds using their sense of smell alone to make foraging decisions and avoid contact with potentially dangerous insects at a flower or feeder.”

The experiment was deceptively simple. They provided more than 100 hummingbirds the option of feeding at two feeders. One feeder contained sugar water and another filled with sugar water and additives that indicated that an insect was present. One additive was formic acid which is produced by some Formica ants. This chemical is known to be harmful to humans and mammals alike. The other was an ant attraction chemical. Another chemical tested was a chemical left behind when a European honeybee visits flowers.

The hummingbirds seemed oblivious to the honeybee-generated chemical. However, the birds avoided food laced with both of the ant-based chemicals.

Since all of the feeders were identical, the only way that the birds could differentiate between the feeders was through their sense of smell.

It seems like every few years we learn something new and fascinating about hummingbirds. As such, it begs the question, “What will researchers discover next about these amazing birds?”

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