The Hummingbirds have arrived in Georgia!

Each April, we look forward to seeing Ruby-throated hummingbirds have arrived back at our feeders

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is an incredible creature, and we are very lucky to see them so frequently in the Spring and Summer months. These are tiny birds that can fly forward, in reverse, and in basically any other direction they choose. They have a top speed of around 22mph, and with that in mind, it is truly incredible that they migrate to South America each year for the Winter months. We generally see the first few “hummers” arrive in April. My theory is that these are usually just passing through on their way to their northern summer homes. Generally, by April/May, our resident Hummingbirds have arrived and start to frequent the feeders around our house.

A juvenile male Ruby-throated hummingbird perches on the stem of a purple Salvia plant before flying off to defend his territory. @birdsofwestcobb

Lisa makes her own Hummingbird Nectar from scratch using 1 part sugar and 4 parts water. No food coloring or other chemicals are necessary and in fact, can cause harm to the hummers. Please don’t use the “pre-mix” red fluid they sell at most major stores like Home Depot or Lowes or Walmart (to name a few). Take a few minutes and mix your own!

A male Ruby-throated hummingbird captured perching on the top of a tomato cage in our Salvia garden. @birdsofwestcobb

How can you get these amazing tiny birds to your yard? Flowering shrubs and trees are a good start, but we found that purple salvia is an amazing plant that returns year after year here in Georgia, even though it’s labeled as an Annual. In Marietta, we are considered “North of Atlanta” in case you are looking at planting zones on a label while shopping for Hummingbird-friendly plants. These start to pop up in our flower beds in early late March or early April, and by mid-May, our first blooms are starting to open.

Purple Salvia is a favorite of the Ruby-throated hummingbird

These plants can grow over 4′ tall and make a great colorful privacy plant but also attract loads of hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, bees and more! We like to support ours with tomato cages (when the plants are small and growing still) and these double as perches for the little hummers.

An adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird perches on a feeder in the rain

When the hummers first arrive, they are pretty thin, very quick, and difficult to capture up close. They are also extremely territorial birds and generally, a single male ruby-throated hummingbird will claim a feeder or a perch as his own, and chase other hummingbirds away constantly. However, over the course of the Summer, these birds increase their body weight significantly as they store up fuel for their Autumn journey back to Central America. As a result, they fly a bit more slowly, perch more often, and sometimes you’ll even see 3-4 of them on a feeder at the same time! Considering that only 2 months earlier they wouldn’t be happy in the same zip code, this is pretty amusing! If you follow this blog we’ll try and make a point to capture this later in the season for you and our other readers!

ruby-throated hummingbird perching on a dogwood twig

If you are interested in reading more about Hummingbird feeders, and selecting the right one to get the most birds, check out our other Blog Post here on this topic: https://www.birdsofwestcobb.com/post/which-feeder-attracts-the-most-hummingbirds