A Greener View

This picture is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird at my Obedient Plant in October of 2002. Obedient Plant is also known as False Dragonhead and the botanical name is Physostegia virginiana.

Hummingbirds are only found in North and South America. About half of the more than three hundred species are found in Ecuador, which is only about the land area of California. Only about twenty-six species have been seen north of the Mexico border. Only one species is normally found in the entire eastern half of North America, the Ruby-throated hummingbird. A few western species do visit the gulf coast on occasion, especially in the winter. The rocky mountain and west coast areas get as many as seven species visiting in a year, but North America's hummingbird heaven is southern Arizona. Around thirteen species visit the desert mountain canyons each year.

The area south of Tucson, especially the Santa Rita Lodge area in Madera Canyon and north of Patagonia has mountains (snow capped in winter), deserts, grasslands and streamside forests and it is on a major migration pathway from Canada to Central America. There are hummingbirds here year round, but the best time to visit is from late July to mid-September.

South of the town of Sierra Vista and the Fort Huachaca army base is a series of canyons in the Coronado National Forest. These canyons house many rare species of birds besides hummingbirds. The Nature Conservancy has the Ramsey Canyon Preserve, which is a limited use area that is best to schedule reservations to get into. Call 520-378-2785 for more information.

Miller canyon is also a great place to visit, especially the Beatty's Miller Canyon Apiary and Orchard. They have rental cabins next to the orchard and they have set up hummingbird feeding stations where eleven species of hummingbirds have been seen at the same time. Call 520-378-2728 to get reservations and to pick up some pesticide free honey and beeswax.

For information on wintertime bird watching in southern Arizona for all you snowbirds that go there for the dry heat, check out the web site for the Southern Arizona Bird Observatory.

Question: Last year we had lot of hummingbirds, but this year we do not have any. What can we do to get them back again?

Answer: Having had them once you should be able to get them back again, if the neighborhood has not under gone some major development. North American hummingbirds are very small birds and that means that they will have very small territories. If someone down the street has a better habitat for them, they may locate down there and only come to your house for the hummingbird feeder.

The best way to attract them is to create the right kind of habitat. Nectar producing flowers is their preferred food source. Almost any tubular or trumpet-shaped red, orange or deep pink flower will attract hummingbirds, but the best choices are plants native to your area. Chose a wide variety that will bloom over a long period of time. Hummingbirds also eat large quantities of insects, but these will come to the flowers with out your help.

The hummingbird also needs shelter for nesting; they tend to nest in the shelter of large mature trees, so plant some now so someone in the future can enjoy that aspect of the habitat.

Question: When should I take the hummingbird feeder down in the fall?

Answer: Do not take the feeder down until it has been a couple of weeks since you last saw it being used. In cold climate areas, a frost will kill off the flowers. When that happens, there may be a few hummingbirds that still need a little more energy before heading farther south. They cannot get the sugars from the dead flowers, so your feeder will help.

Having a feeder up will not entice hummingbirds to stay past the time they should leave. The instinct to migrate is too strong for that to happen. If you live along the Gulf Coast, in southern California or the desert southwest, it is possible to have hummingbirds visit your yard all year long.