Create a Hummingbird Haven With Native Flowering Plants
As hummers make their way north for spring, draw them to your yard or space with the plants they need to refuel.
This audio story is brought to you by BirdNote, a partner of The National Audubon Society. BirdNote episodes air daily on public radio stations nationwide.
Transcript:
This is BirdNote!
This whir of wings must mean the hummingbirds are back. The Anna’s Hummingbird spent the entire winter in the West and Northwest. Now, this feisty Rufous Hummingbird enters to stir things up. Up the Eastern Seaboard and through the Midwest, Ruby-throats are arriving, day by day.
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds and others are northbound along the Rocky Mountains. And in the South and Southwest, more than a dozen species are back for the summer, including this Black-chinned Hummingbird.
So how can you attract these feathered gems to your yard or balcony? One way is to grow native plants with flowers of red, orange, or purple.
Native plants offer nectar in spring and summer, and they also attract insects – the most important part of a hummingbird’s diet. Native plants also provide cover and a natural, sustainable habitat that welcomes birds to your yard. Just add a source of water for drinking and bathing, and you’ll have a hummingbird haven.
Not sure where to start? We’ll help you find the right plants for your part of the country. Begin at our website, BirdNote.org. I’m Mary McCann.
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<<Start Today! Get your yard ready for spring migrants by growing native plants. Just type your zipcode into our handy database to discover which native plants in your area will attract certain types of birds. Then, once you start attracting hummers, join our Hummingbirds at Home citizen science program. >>
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Credits:
Written by Ellen Blackstone
Narrator: Mary McCann
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
Sounds for the hummingbirds were provided by the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Anna’s Hummingbird recorded by A.A. Allen; Rufous Hummingbird recorded by G.A. Keller. wing whir and calls of Ruby-throated Hummingbird recorded by R.S. Little; Black-chinned wings 60121 by W.W. H. Gunn; ambient taken from Common Yellowthroat track recorded by W.L. Hershberger 79476
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org April 2017