Hummingbirds get their name from the sound their wings make when they fly because they are flapping so fast (about 80x per second!). They have a unique ability to fly in any direction - right, left, up down, backwards and upside down too.
Hummingbirds are attacted to food by sight, and though red flowers are huge attractors, these birds will go to any colored flower, so long as they are rich in nectar. My feeder is red and yellow, but the nectar is clear.
If you haven't done so already, I highly recommending attracting hummingbirds either with a feeder or plants. Perennials such as bee balms, columbines, daylillies, lupines and annuals like cleome, impatiens and petunias are a good place to start!
Great photos of the humming bird! We have a regular bird feeder and lately (since we started putting cracked corn in it, I think) it has been attracting gangs of black crows which is keeping all the other birds away...except the occasional blue jay. Can be kinda scary to see a flock of crows arrive all at once...
ReplyDeleteYeah, Katya, I don't enjoy when the big black birds come and take over the feeder either. Different birds are attracted to different seeds and also different types of feeders (Cardinals, for example, prefer flat surfaces rather than little "stick" perches).
DeleteThis is extraordinary! We have red robins and sparrows, sometimes heron visits our pond;)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete