Hummingbirds: Feeders Aren’t Necessary to Attract Them

by Carolyn Henderson

The only time that I find being outside tolerable during this long heat wave/drought is early morning or late evening. I think Hummingbirds agree with me. And I don’t feed them intentionally. 

I stopped putting out bird food of any sort several years ago after I saw my sometimes-outside cat, with a Hummingbird then a Yellow Rumped Warbler in his mouth. I decided to limit his pickings as much as possible. However, I did plant a Mexican Honeysuckle bush from the El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist Wildscape, and I also have a Fiery Hummingbird Bush (also called a Fire Bush) that was here when I bought the house. They both are in full bloom now, and Hummingbirds and several types of butterflies are very fond of feeding on them. The multitude of wasps that I have nesting at my house like them, too. 

These two bushes, my Crape Myrtle and a couple of Mexican Hats are all in bloom now. These plants are heat wave tolerant, feeding birds, butterflies, Western Honeybees, and three types of wasps. I only see the Hummingbirds in the very early morning and evening. They come in groups of three to four. I believe they are the Ruby Throated version. Three of them have white undersides and one, that I finally got a photo of this morning, looks to be Ruby Throated (according to iNaturalist). I’ve been trying to get photos of them for a few weeks, but I never have my camera ready at the right time. It seems that if they see that I have seen them, they head for the tallest trees. 

The Crape Myrtle, which bloomed late this year, attracts mostly wasps and honeybees. I normally have a Texas Purple Sage in bloom that the bees really like, but it has not put out more than 5 or 6 blooms a few times. The Mexican Hats are just about done for the year. Luckily for the feeders, the Mexican Honeysuckle Bush and Fiery Hummingbird Bush bloom until it freezes – which may not occur this year. 

I must say, being able to watch the birds and butterflies eat without having to frequently clean out the feeder is nice. They really like my new bird bath, too. They, along with Robins, Blue Jays, Doves, Cardinals, and Mockingbirds have become very fond of it. They drink it and cool themselves off in it.