Monday was a great day for working out in the yard, not too hot, not too cold. As I was working in the garden my wife yelled up to me that we needed to get out the hummingbird feeders, because as she was sitting on the patio, one of our many summer visitors (hummingbirds) decided to dive bomb her to announce his return. It's like he was saying, "I'M BACK, feed me.” So, sure enough, we found the feeders from last year, oddly enough in a box marked hummingbird feeders. They were already clean, but we rinsed them out again and then filled them up with some delicious fresh hummingbird food. We like to use the red dyed food early in the spring just so that the hummers know that the feeders have food in them, as our feeders are made of clear glass. Obviously if you have a feeder made with red glass, colored food doesn't matter. 

Once our hummers start coming on a daily basis, I'll change back to just clear liquid. The fact that hummingbird food is dyed red to attract them is more of an old marketing scheme that dates back to the 1980's. The truth is hummingbirds don't prefer red flowers over any other color, red was a color that attracted people. Forty years later and we still have red hummingbird food. Our hummingbirds don't care if we give them clear or red food as long as it is there after their long trip north. Our hummingbirds, typically the Ruby Throated hummingbird, migrate north from their overwintering locations in places like southern Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica starting in early February. 

Some hummingbirds take the land route around the gulf, while others will fly directly over from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico to the southern tip of Florida. Males usually arrive one to two weeks before the females, it's not to get the nest ready or anything like that, it's because they are males and only stop when necessary because once they get on the road they just want to get there. Once the females arrive then the nesting begins. 

Hummingbird nests are very small, about the size of a half walnut shell. The female will lay one to three eggs and incubate them for around two to three weeks. Once the chicks hatch, they are entirely reliant on the parents for food and warmth for another three to four weeks. Once the chicks develop feathers and can regulate their own body temperature, they leave the nest and learn how to gather food for themselves. They better learn quick because it won't be long, and they will start their great migration back to the south for the winter. Hummingbirds typically live three to five years, but some studies have shown subjects that have lived to be ten years old under optimum conditions. 

Hummingbird populations had been declining at the end of the last century, but through education and conservation that trend has turned around. Hummingbird numbers have stabilized and in many areas are starting to increase as hummingbird gardens are popping up around the northeast and many consumers have started planting with a purpose in their own yards. Even customers coming in for hanging baskets for Mother's Day this Sunday are looking for hummingbird and butterfly friendly varieties to give. All these little efforts make a big difference for our smallest feathered friend.