Use These Colors Around Your Garden To Encourage More Hummingbirds To Visit

Hummingbirds are a delight to watch as they hover in front of a flower or feeder, their wings moving so fast as to be a blur, their quick precise movements – flying forward and back, up and down, and even upside down! Almost impossibly small, hummingbirds are backyard favorites wherever they live. Attracting these magical creatures has long been a goal of gardeners and homeowners alike. 

One way to do that is feeding them and making use of specialized — and almost always red-colored — hummingbird feeders. Hummingbirds need, in comparison to their body size, vast quantities of nectar to power their extremely high metabolism and they are more than happy to drink down man-made nectar made from sugar. Another way is to attract them is to start a hummingbird garden.

When it comes to attracting hummingbirds, flowers are an obvious way to say "hey" to these beloved little birds, and there are those that are proven to attract them. But even yard ornaments can be useful in catching a hummingbird's eye. It all has to do with color, and some colors specifically. So, whether it's a feeder, a lawn ornament, or a garden, you should aim to get reds, oranges, and yellows.

Red and yellow colors are attractive to hummingbirds due to the birds' special eye sensitivity. That's why most hummingbird feeders have a lot of red on them. So, planting red flowers is a proven way to bring these tiny birds into your yard. Orange, pink, purple, and yellow flowers are also favorite hues of hummers. Some folks call these "hot colors," and hummingbirds seem to be in that crowd (or flock?) of creatures who love them. 

And while properly colored flowers are some of the most powerful attractants, yard ornaments in those hot colors can help catch the eye of a hummingbird on the move and bring them closer to your property. Gazing balls, flower pots, and pennants, for example, would work. The colors are nearly a surefire way to attract hummingbirds to your yard.

Some top flowers to attract hummingbirds are zinnias, bee balm, and bleeding hearts. Plant zinnias in red or orange hues, and go for the pink-colored bleeding heart variety. Additionally, lupine, cardinal flower, columbine, and trumpet creeper are hummingbird favorites as well. When you are considering flowers for hummingbirds, try to plant species that will flower sequentially, providing nectar across a long period of time. If you plant those succeeding flowers near one another, it will help the birds find them more easily and keep the little guys in your yard or garden for longer.

As mentioned, feeding hummingbirds is not only fun, but helpful to the birds. You can make your own "nectar" from sugar and water, but you don't need to add red dye — in fact, it's harmful for the birds to consume it. Splashes of red on the feeder are sufficient to attract them, and naturally occurring nectar is colorless anyway. 

Another tip to help the hummingbirds is to allow spiderwebs around the feeder and flowers they frequent instead of removing them. They use the webs to make their nests and will occasionally poach a tiny bug or two from the spiderwebs as a snack. Male hummingbirds like to perch near feeders — they are territorial little guys. So, providing a safe perch for them in view of the hummingbird feeder will encourage them to hang around. And you'll get to see their aerial acrobatics as males challenge each other for territory. Some hummingbird lovers grow nest-building plants for them, too.

Hummingbirds are tiny miracles of nature. They are sassy little birds that, although seemingly fragile, are survivors of long migrations and the violent whims of nature. Encouraging them to share your yard by providing flowers and food and displaying their favorite colors is not only joyful, but a benefit to both our species.