Hummingbirds Are on the Way!

Spring brings hummingbirds back to Central Texas! The two most common species seen here in our region are the Black-chinned Hummingbird and the just-passing-through Ruby-throated Hummingbird. These beautiful, tiny birds are energy machines. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, if a hummingbird were a 170-pound man, he would need to burn about 155,000 calories to maintain a hummingbird’s average daily energy output. Translated into required caloric intake, a human would have to eat 370 pounds of potatoes a day to keep up with a hummingbird’s energy needs.

Of course, hummingbirds don’t eat potatoes — they prefer nectar from flowers. Their long beaks are perfectly suited for tubular flowers like Red Buckeye, Flame Acanthus, Crossvine, and Red Yucca. Planting these natives in your yard will attract hummingbirds! But you can also set up feeders: boil one part sugar to four parts water until dissolved, then completely cool. (Don’t buy the liquid in stores, NEVER use honey, and don’t color it red!) Sugar water needs to be changed every few days to keep it from fermenting in our heat, and the feeder needs to be scrubbed at each filling to prevent mold. Just be sure to take your feeders down in the fall to encourage them to fly south for the winter.

For more information, check out texasmonthly.com/travel/Texas-how-to-bring-hummingbirds-to-yard/.