U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Hummingbird Haven Backyard Habitat for Wildlife From late March through mid November, if you and then spending their winters in Mexico. look carefully, you may find a small flying Beating their wings 2.7 million times, the jewel in your backyard. The ruby-throated ruby-throated hummingbird flies 500 miles hummingbird may be seen zipping by your nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico during porch or flitting about your flower migration. This trip averages 18-20 hours garden. Inquisitive by nature, these but with a strong tail wind, the flight takes tiny birds will fly close to investigate ten hours. To survive, migrating hummers your colorful blouse or red baseball cap. must store fat and fuel up before and right The hummingbird, like many species of after crossing the Gulf—there are no wildlife is plagued by loss of habitat. sources of nectar over the ocean! However, by providing suitable backyard habitat you can help this flying jewel of a bird. Hummingbird Flowers Flowers Height Color Bloom time Hummingbird Habitat A successful backyard haven for hummingbirds contains a Herbaceous Plants variety of flowering plants including tall and medium trees, Bee Balm 2-4' W, P, R, L summer shrubs, vines, perennial and annual flowers. Flowering plants Blazing Star 2-6' L summer & fall provide hummers with nectar for energy and insects for Cardinal Flower 2-5' R summer protein. Trees and shrubs provide vertical structure for nesting, perching and shelter. No matter what size garden, try Columbine 1-4' all spring & summer to select a variety of plants to ensure flowering from spring Coral Bells 6-12" W, P, R spring through fall. Help keep your haven safe for hummingbirds and Fire Pink 1-2' R spring & summer other wildlife by keeping cats in the house and out of your yard. Flowering Tobacco 1-3' -B summer Nectar Notes Many (but not all) hummingbird flowers are red to orange in Four o’clock 1-3' -B summer color, are tubular shaped and are fragrance-free. Foxglove 2-6' W, P, Y, L spring Hummingbirds find nectar blossoms by sight not smell. Fuchsia 1-3' W, P, L, R spring—fall Choose flowering plants from the list here, known as Hollyhock 4-8' -B spring “hummingbird flowers.” For attracting hummers to your yard, plant several of the same kind of flower in groupings instead of Jewelweed 3' O summer & fall scattering a few individuals throughout your garden bed or Penstemon 1-2' P, R summer yard. Also, try to select longer-blooming plants for a more Petunia 1-2' all summer & fall continuous source of nectar. Phlox 1-3' all varies with species Water Works Salvia (Sage) 1-5' R, B, W, L varies with species Although hummers obtain fluids from their food, they still need water to bathe and drink. Being so small, hummers Sweet William 1-2' W, P, R, L spring prefer to bathe in very shallow water and will even use dew Verbena 3-6" all spring—fall drops. Providing a fine spray of water, as from a mister Zinnia 6-36" -B summer attached to a tree or shrub branch, will almost assure you of attracting hummingbirds to your yard. Hummingbirds and Trees and Shrubs other birds love to fly into the spray for a quick sip of water or Abelia 2-6' W, P summer for a refreshing shower. Azalea 1-10' all spring Hummingbird Facts Hibiscus 5-10' all summer & fall Hummingbirds are our smallest bird. The ruby-throated Red Buckeye 10-20' R spring hummingbird measures only 3” inches and weighs less than a penny. Using their long forked tongue, hummingbirds lap up Tulip Poplar 100' W, O spring nectar or sugar water at a rate of fifteen times per second. An Weigela 6-10' P, R spring average hummingbird consumes half its weight in sugar daily. Vines Hummingbirds are named for the “humming” sound made by Coral (Trumpet) Honeysuckle R, Y spring their wings. Hummers can fly forward, backward, even up-side Cypress-Vine R, W summer & fall down and hover midair in one place. They average 35 m.p.h. during flight, but are capable of flying upwards of 75 m.p.h. Red Morning Glory R summer & fall Ruby-throats are the only hummingbird known to nest in the Scarlet Runner-Bean R, W summer southeast. Females always lay two eggs, each smaller than a Trumpet Vine (Creeper) R, O, Y summer jellybean. Ruby-throats are neotropical migratory birds, breeding in the eastern half of the United States and Canada Colors: B=blue, L=lavender, O=orange, P=pink, R=Red, W=white, Y=yellow, -=absence of a single color U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Attracting Butterflies Backyard Habitat for Wildlife Host Plants for Butterflies Plants Butterflies Like 1 (Host plant—Scientific name Plants selected from the following list Butterfly attracted) will appeal to butterflies (common name scientific name): Creating Butterflyweed—Asclepius tuberosa Habitat Monarch Butterfly Shrubs: Creating Azalea—Rhododendron spp. habitat for Parsley—Petroselinium crispum butterflies is an exciting and rewarding Black Swallowtail Butterfly Annuals: endeavor. Some key components of your Cosmos—Cosmos sulphureus butterfly habitat are: Dill—Anethum graveolens Black Swallowtail Butterfly French Marigold—Tagetes patula ■ Sunny areas. Plants that butterflies like require bright sunshine. Fennel—Foeniculum vulgare Heliotrope—Heliotrope arborescens Black Swallowtail Butterfly ■ Splashes of color. Butterflies are attracted to flowers by color. Groups Rue—Ruta graveolens of flowers are easier to locate than Black Swallowtail Butterfly isolated plants. ■ Passion Flower—Passiflora incarnata Single flowers. The nectar of single Gulf Fritillary Butterfly flowers is more accessible and easier to extract than double Spicebush—Lindera benzoin flowering plants. Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly ■ Host plants. Female butterflies lay Tulip Tree—Lirieodnedron tulipifera their eggs only on certain host plants Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly that will nourish the young caterpillars after they hatch. Grow those plants that supply food for the caterpillars. Butterfly Biology The most successful butterfly habitat includes plants which meet the needs of ■ Damp areas. Butterflies cannot drink butterflies during all four stages of their from open water. Wet sand, earth, or Impatiens—Impatiens w allerana life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and mud are the best watering holes. adult. Mexican sunflower—Tithonia rotundifolia ■ Basking stones. Butterflies often After mating, female butterflies search for Verbena—Verbena x hydrida perch on stones to bask in the sun. a specific kind of “host plant” on which to Basking raises their body lay eggs. For example, monarchs lay eggs Zinnia—Zinnia elegans temperature so that they are able to on milkweed, black swallowtails on parsley, fly and remain active. and tiger swallowtails on tulip tree or wild Pentas—Pentas lanceolata cherry. In a few days, caterpillars emerge Enjoy Watching Butterflies from the eggs and begin to eat. Perennials: You can enhance your butterfly habitat Caterpillars only feed on specific kinds of Purple coneflower—Echinacea purpurea by making personal observations. plants. Identify which butterflies occur in your Black-eyed susan—Rudbeckia spp. community and the plants they are When the caterpillars are fully grown, visiting. Butterflies are easy to identify they shed their skin and change into Butterflyweed—Asclepias tuberosa with field guides such as: chrysalises. Often chrysalises are attached to plant stems and protected by Coreopsis—Coreopsis spp. Butterflies and Moths surrounding vegetation. It is inside the by H.S. Zim, Golden Guide Series, chrysalis that the adult butterfly is Moss Verbena—Verbena tenvisecta Golden Press, New York, New York, 1987. formed. 1 Information provided by The Audubon Society Handbook for After emerging from the chrysalis, the The Butterfly Center, Callaway Gardens Butterfly Watchers by R. M. Pyle, adult butterfly soon begins to search for Charles Scribners & Sons. nectar-rich flowers to feed upon..