Viewing post #799931 by beckygardener

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Feb 27, 2015 4:37 PM CST
Name: Becky
Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Daylilies Hummingbirder Butterflies Seed Starter Container Gardener
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Birds Ponds
Most hummers in central Florida show up in Winter as they migrate south to us. Some will stick around while others move further south to south FL or Mexico. BUT ... if you are near the west coast of FL, there is a possibility that you might have summer breeding Ruby-throated hummingbirds. There are two groups that move through FL. There are the breeding Ruby-throated hummers than come in Spring and stay until late Summer. They leave to go back to Mexico in the Fall. Then the northern breeding Ruby-throated hummers come to FL for the Winter. We do NOT have year round resident Ruby-throats. A study proved that there are no hummers that live here year round. It is two different groups of birds that may seem like some Ruby-throated hummingbirds are here all year. Near impossible to tell one adult male or female from another, so people often mistake several birds as 1 single bird. Ruby-throats do indeed breed in Florida during the Spring/Summer but that is only is certain areas of FL, not all of Florida. And over-wintering hummers are typically seen from central FL down into the FL Keys. A lot of people in FL do not know we have hummingbirds here during the year. I never saw one until I started planting hummingbird nectar plants.

You won't get a LOT of birds. Maybe only 1 or 2 or perhaps a few more that stay around your area (and yard) during those seasons. Honestly, the best way to attract more than 1 is to set up areas they can claim as territory. It also helps if they can't easily see each other when they claim a territory. So having plants all the way around your front and back yard is the best way to attract more. You will need small trees for them to perch in for each territory. And lots of nectar blooming plants. And a feeder in each area for them to claim. I put out 4-6 feeders every Winter. Most of them get used regularly, some on occasion when a new bird or two comes through.

There is a hummingbird host near the west coast of Central Florida that gets anywhere from 6-15 hummers every Winter. He also gets quite a variety of hummingbird species. Not just Ruby-throated hummers. I wished I lived nearer to the west coast of central Florida. You can learn more about his yard:
http://tbo.com/brandon/valrico...
http://floridahummingbirds.pro...
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us.
Garden Rooms and Becky's Budget Garden

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