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• about humming birds and how to attract them
• adding a bird feeder to your garden
• a garden to attract humming birds
• attracting and caring for humming birds
• attracting birds to a tropical garden
• attracting birds with flowers
• attracting wild birds
• beyond bird seed
• bird feeder basics
• bird feeding in the fall
• bird house buying tips
• birds and what to feed them
• bird watching tips
• build a squirrel proof bird feeder
• build your own humming bird feeder
• create a humming bird paradise
• create wild bird habitat with bird feeder
• create your own humming bird nectar
• creating a wildlife garden
• feeding hummingbirds
• feeding the humming birds
• for the birds
• home made bird feeders
• home made humming bird nectar
• how to attract humming birds
• how to make interesting can feeders for birds
• hummingbirds
• hummingbirds jewels of the air
• making your own bird feeder
• provide water for birds in winter
• seeds to attract birds
• setting out a feast for your wild birds
• types of bird feeders
• why the squirrel kept winning
• wildlife gardener
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How To Attract Hummingbirds
by Marilyn Pokorney
Planting a garden full of red flowers is the best way toattract these beautiful jeweled birds.Plant bee balm, butterfly weed, columbine, cardinal Flower,coral bells, cosmos, dahlias, four-o'-clock's, fuchsias,morning glory, petunias, zinnias, trumpet vine, orhoneysuckle. A web search will reveal many more.Be a hummingbird magnet by having as much red in yourbackyard as possible. Besides flowers use gazing balls,backyard furniture, ribbons, and other yard decorations.Create both sun and shade areas in your hummingbird garden.Offer an abundance of nesting materials to encourage nestingfemales. Hummingbirds prefer downy like materials, spiderwebs, ferns, moss and lichens for their nests.Make certain that there is always fresh water available fordrinking as well as for bathing. Set up misters.Hummingbirds love to take "leaf baths," rubbing against wetleaves or just sitting on a branch having the mist fall uponthem.Avoid pesticides. These chemicals kill the insects thathummingbirds eat for protein and can also sicken or kill thebirds.Add plenty of places for the birds to perch. Hummingbirdsspend around 80% of their time sitting on twigs, shrubs,and other available resting places.Provide red hummingbird feeders hung about thirty feet apartthroughout your yard. Never fill your feeders with anythingbut a sugar-water mix of 1 part white sugar to 4 partsboiled water. Do not use food coloring or artificialsweeteners of any kind, and never, never use honey which candevelop a fungus which can be fatal to hummingbirds. Cleanand refill the feeders every 3 days. More often iftemperatures are above 85 degrees F.Hang the feeders on a pole in a flower bed or on a porch ordeck near flowers hummingbirds are attracted to.You can also tie 18 to 24 inch strips of red ribbon to thefeeder. The blowing ribbons will make it easier for thehummingbirds to see.Place feeders at various heights. Some hummingbird specieslike to feed at heights of 12 to 15 feet, while others feedon low growing flowers and prefer feeders placed closer tothe ground.Avoid hanging feeders in direct sunlight, which will causenectar to spoil more quickly.Once a week the feeder must be washed with vinegar and wateror a 10% chlorine solution and scrubbed clean.Create a separate feeder for Bees and wasps. Fill it with amixture of 3:1 or even a 2:1 ratio of water to sugar. Theinsects have a very strong preference for rich, high-sugarmixtures and will quickly decide to use the feeder with thehigher sugar content.To repel ants, apply vinegar or powdered cloves to anttrails. Put adhesive tape applied sticky-side-out to thehanging wire. Experts advise that petroleum jelly not beused because the greasy substance gets onto the birds andmake it hard for the birds to clean their feathers properly.Use ant traps instead.
Marilyn Pokorney Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the environment. Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading. Website: www.apluswriting.net
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