Non-traditional hummingbird plants

It is really starting to feel like spring here (until the little blizzard today) and with spring comes the arrival of hummingbirds. In April two really interesting hummingbirds, the Calliope (the smallest hummingbird species in North America) as well as the Rufus (the longest distance migrant of all North American hummingbirds) arrive in our garden. Although the Calliope does not travel as far as the Rufus, which may fly 2,000 miles, both species spend most of the year traveling from their winter locations (as far south as Mexico) to their breeding areas, and that is what brings them to the intermountain west, Montana, and our yard.


Both species follow the Pacific flyway north, following plants as they bloom on the way to their breeding grounds. The timing of the blooms determines the rate at which they migrate, but year after year their returns to a location fall on remarkably similar dates (though getting earlier with climate change). Hummingbirds rely on the presence of these plants and their flowers for survival- they feed on the nectar, and in turn the plants get pollinated.

Many gardeners like to attract hummingbirds to their yards, and why not, they are some of nature’s marvels; them, and my cat, Squeak. Conventionally, many think of hummingbird plants as ones with showy, red, tubular flowers, but that is really not the only case. In fact, many of those flowers are probably not native where you live and may do little to attract hummingbirds to your garden. For example, where I live, hummingbirds arrive in early spring and stay around to nest nearby. The most activity we get is from April- early June and then again when they head back south as the summer ends. When they arrive in early spring they are looking for something to eat. We do set out feeders (see the Calliope on our feeder, above), but it is really the plants that keep them in our yard.

The best way to provide food for hummingbirds and to attract them to your yard is to mimic what is flowering when they arrive. In my area, the arrival of these little travelers coincides with some very non-traditional looking hummingbird plants. However, early spring is crtitical for providing food for hummingbirds. Habitat loss and loss of native plants and the conversion of many of these habitats have reduced their natural foods.
The first to flower here are wax currant (Ribes cereum), serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), golden currant (photo at the top of the post, Ribes aureum), Oregon grape (photo above, Mahonia repens), hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii), and Jacob's ladder (photo below, Polemonium pulcherrimum), and even shrubby penstemon (photo at the bottom of the post, Penstemon fruiticosa). Not coincidentally, these same early flowering plants (wax and golden currant, serviceberry, and hawthorn, in particular) are important to other birds for their early producing fruits. Because they are the first to flower they are the first to fruit. The fruiting is timed to the nutritional needs of many birds nesting and caring for their nestlings.
Although adults will only feed their young nestlings insects and worms, the adults need the nourishment and easy foraging that fruits provide. Thrushes, robins, spotted towhees, northern flickers and the ever more common blue jays will eats golden current berries in our yard. The fruits of the hawthorn never last long on our tree, and the serviceberry fruits are checked daily by many species of birds for their ripeness, and they are devoured as soon as that point is reached.

Understanding the ecology of plants and animals in your area is the key to successfully attracting and providing for the needs of wildlife. For example, you could plant a grouping of firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) in your yard to attract hummingbirds. But if you live where I do, they will flower in the summer, when hummingbirds are long past. Since they are not native, insects that use the plant are not here, and thus, their utility for wildlife is reduced. If you did live in a place, like near a stream, or in the wooded mountains, where hummingbirds are in July, hummingbirds would use that exotic plant, but they would also like use anything that is flowering, including native plants, and the rewards for wildlife by using native plants are far greater. To plant one plant for a single species of bird or butterfly is ineffective. Think of your yard holistically, and provide a diversity of plants and structure and you will be rewarded with a diversity of wildlife visitors.