Hummingbirds, which artist John J. Audubon called "glittering fragments of the rainbow," are darting around flowers and feeders in South Carolina, say state natural resources officials.
Feeders can be left up well into the fall season, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, and this will not cause the hummers to delay their migration. Migratory birds base their departure date primarily on the changing day length, not on the availability of food. Actually, leaving feeders up into the fall will help the late migrants that stop for a rest on their way back to Mexico and Central America as their natural food sources may be limited at that time.
"Hummingbirds are as fascinating to study as they are beautiful to watch," said Lex Glover, wildlife technician with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources in Columbia. Glover encourages South Carolina residents to landscape with flowers, hang out a feeder and invite hummingbirds to lunch: "In return, they'll entertain you with their antics and add a little color to your life."
Thousands of South Carolina residents are feeding hummingbirds. Male ruby-throated hummingbirds, which feature the characteristic metallic blood-red throat bib, began showing up in South Carolina in late March, with their white-throated mates arriving from the tropics about a week later. Most hummingbird activity around feeders, however, does not really pick up until midsummer. Do not despair if you had hummers at your feeder early during the migration period and now there are none. Some of those birds continued flying north and others stayed here but are busy raising young and taking advantage of plentiful natural food sources.
Under natural conditions, hummingbirds obtain sugar by eating the nectar of flowers and the sap of trees. Hummingbirds are attracted to tubular red flowers like red salvia, bee balm, trumpet creeper, cypress vine, crossvine, firecracker vine, red buckeye, native azaleas (Oconee, flame and plumleaf) and woodbine, and they will readily seek out others such as hibiscus, hollyhock, petunia and impatiens. Hummingbirds also feed on small insects.
Homeowners can duplicate this diet by placing a sugar solution in a hummingbird feeder, with the added attraction of getting to witness the antics of one of nature's most delightful and colorful birds. "Hummingbirds consume 50 percent of their body weight daily in sugar, which makes it one of the most important food items in a hummer's diet, especially in late summer as they prepare for migration," Glover said. Their other main food source is small insects.
A wide variety of hummingbird feeders are now available on the market. If you have used the feeders in previous seasons, Glover said, be sure to wash the hummingbird feeder with hot water and vinegar or hot water and a mild bleach solution to destroy all mildew and mold left over from last year, then rinse thoroughly with clean water. Maintaining clean feeders and providing fresh sugar water every few days, is the most important thing to do to make these birds' stay in the Palmetto State more enjoyable.
The sugar-water mixture for the feeders should be a ratio of four parts water to one part sugar; an easy-to-remember mixture is one cup of sugar per quart of water. This solution closely approximates the sugar content of nectar. Red dye is unnecessary — the red coloring on the feeder will suffice. Honey should not be used as a sweetener because honey-water solutions often harbor a fungus that can be harmful to the hummer.
"If you are putting a feeder up for the first time, don't be discouraged if hummingbirds do not come right away," Glover said. "It may take a while for them to find it and establish a visitation routine." Be sure to keep the solution fresh especially as the days get warmer, because birds will not be attracted to a fermented solution.