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A female black-chinned hummingbird in San Antonio
A monarch butterfly rests on Porter weed at the San Antonio Botanical Garden.
A female black-chinned hummingbird in San Antonio
Golden-fronted woodpeckers enjoy sugar water as much as hummingbirds do.
A rufous hummingbird (right) drinks from a feeder as two black-chinned hummers show off their aerial acrobatics.
The resident, black-chinned hummingbirds are in place and ready to begin their nesting. They will be quite territorial for the beginning of the nesting period, but things will relax as the young are produced and they begin visiting the sugar water feeders and nectar-producing flowers.
It is not too late to set up a feeding station. My favorite feeder is the Best-1 Glass Hummingbird Feeder that just happens to be manufactured in Poteet and is available at most H-E-B stores as well as at Wild Birds Unlimited, plant nurseries, hardware stores, pet supply outlets and feed stores.
One of the reasons I like the Best-1 Feeder is that its distribution access is arranged around the base of the reservoir in a form that prevents the woodpeckers and honeybees from dominating the sugar water access. Bees and woodpeckers can harvest a share of the sugar water, but not to the extent that the hummingbirds are denied a generous supply.
On ExpressNews.com: Black-chinned hummingbirds have big hearts, big brains and a big appetite for sugar water
If you are setting up a hummingbird feeder for the first time, mix four parts of water and one part of sugar in a big batch. Bring it to a boil to the sugar dissolves, let it cool and store it in a 1-gallon plastic milk container in the refrigerator. When temperatures are in the mid to high 90s, you will have to clean out and refill the feeder every day or two to ensure the sugar water is fresh and clean for hummingbirds.
On ExpressNews.com: The golden-fronted woodpecker is San Antonio's original head-banger
Golden-fronted woodpeckers enjoy the sugar water as much as the hummingbirds. In my neighborhood it is an expected ritual for the parents of the young woodpeckers to introduce the year’s young to the feeders when they leave the nest. The woodpeckers suck down more sugar water than the hummingbirds do but their presence does not seem to bother the hummingbirds.
Visits by honeybees can inconvenience the hummingbirds at times, especially in the morning at feeders that better accommodate the bees. They usually seem able to share feeder time, but if the bees get too numerous, try adding an additional feeder or two.
A male black-chinned hummingbird in San Antonio
Ants are more bothersome to me than honeybees. They have the ability to clog up the distribution holes and often make it unpleasant to refill the feeder. One thing that works to discourage ants is to hang a small can between the hook on the eaves and the feeder. Fill the can with cooking oil to block the ants’ access to the feeder’s sugar water.
If you set out a hummingbird feeder, in most cases you will experience a good selection of adult and young black-chinned hummingbirds over the course of the summer. It gets even more interesting in the fall when the migrating ruby-throated and rufous hummingbirds also visit our landscapes.
On ExpressNews.com: The best nectar-producing flowers and plants in San Antonio
To enhance the appeal for the hummingbirds beyond the sugar water feeder, plant some nectar-producing flowers, too. One or more firebushes planted in a container in full sun on your patio will stimulate competition between the individuals. If your patio is dominated by shade, replace the firebush with fire spike.
Golden-fronted woodpeckers enjoy sugar water as much as hummingbirds do.
Firebush and fire spike have been recognized for their special appeal to hummingbirds for years. More recent is the recognition of porter weed’s appeal. It is a tropical plant with weeping branches topped by small but intensely colored red or purple flowers that offer all pollinators, including hummingbirds, an especially potent nectar source.
If you plant porter weed this summer, look for butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds all to be competing for access to the flowers. Other special hummingbird plants to consider are cape honeysuckle, zinnias and milkweed.
Calvin Finch is a retired Texas A&M horticulturist. calvinrfinch@gmail.com
This week in the garden
Prune unwanted seedlings on the fence line, in the flower beds and other locations at ground level and apply Cut Vine and Stump Killer to prevent resprouting. It reduces the need for future pruning.
When you water freeze-damaged plants such as viburnum, Mexican olive and xylosma, water at the base so the injured root ball has adequate water to send to the foliage. Remember that a number of such plants don't warn you of dryness by wilting; they just defoliate.
Help the birds in your landscape to survive the drought by providing bird baths as a water source. Rinse and refill them daily. Minimize danger from the avian flu by spacing the water sources apart to make it less likely that the birds will come into close contact.