You can greatly enhance your hummingbird habitat and nest-building potential by growing a diversity of leafy trees and large shrubs that provide shelter at varying heights from 5 to 15 feet above the ground. This is the height at which most hummers prefer to build their nests.
Trees to please
Catkin-bearing trees and shrubs with soft plant fibers offer first-rate materials for hummers to build their nests. Prime examples include beech (Fagus), black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa), poplar (Populus), willows (Salix), witch hazel (Hamamelis), alder (Alnus), birch (Betula), maple (Acer), mulberry (Morus) and western cottonwood (Populus fremontii).
Focus on fuzzy
Grow perennials, annuals and vines with fuzzy foliage or seeds so hummers can harvest the downy fibers for their nests. Not only do the flowers on both clematis (Clematis) and honeysuckle (Lonicera) provide nectar for hungry hummers, but also the subsequent seed heads transform into fuzzy balls of soft fibers for nest-building material. Be sure to steer clear of invasive honeysuckle species, such as Japanese honeysuckle (L. japonica).
Pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) and blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora) offer similar soft fibers: Pasque flower has soft foliage with silken hairs, with mid-spring flowers followed by fuzzy seedpods; blanket flower forms fuzzy seedpods immediately after flowering.
Lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina) forms dense, ground-hugging rosettes of thick, soft, woolly leaves. The soft and silken plumes of ornamental grasses provide yet another source of nesting materials. And all milkweeds (Asclepias) don't just attract hummingbirds and butterflies with sweet nectar -- the inflated seedpods that follow contain silky seeds.
The downy material found on select plants that you grow in your garden can also be found on some plants that nature nurtures on its own, such as thistles, dandelions, fireweed and cattails. The moss and lichen that grow naturally on trees and other plants are also important nesting materials that hummers use as exterior camouflage.
Spiders and their webs are a natural and essential part of any healthy garden as the spiders feed on myriad insects. The food cycle continues as both the spider and the insects snared in its web become fast food for hummingbirds. The real treasure, however, lies in the sticky spider webs, which a hummer uses for binding the nest together as well as to the branch or other support on which it's built. Spider webs serve as essential glue, and the silky strands also give the nest elasticity to expand as the hatchlings grow.
So the next time you fill up your hummingbird feeder, be sure to fill up your garden beds with a variety of humdinger plants that can make your yard a more hospitable habitat for the tiny-winged garden visitors.
Garden writer Kris Wetherbee is the author of "Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Other Winged Wonders to Your Backyard": email@example.com
Nest Building 101
A hummingbird's delicate, cup-shaped nest typically averages only 1 1/2 inches in outer diameter, which is about the size of a golf ball or walnut. The tiny nest is composed of a variety of materials. Small pieces of soft plant fibers, bits of leaves and feathers are typically used to build the two-egg-capacity nest.
Strands of sticky spider web hold the nest together and anchor it to a shrub or tree branch. Fluffy plant down and animal hair line the inside, giving nestlings a soft and cozy five-star accommodation. And bits of lichen and moss cleverly camouflage the nest's outside from intruders. The soft fibers and silky webs result in a flexible nest that can expand to make room for the young hummers (nestlings) as they grow.
The female alone tends to the duties of nest building and can spend several hours a day for up to seven days collecting materials and constructing her nest. She then raises her young without any help from her mate. The nestlings will remain in the nest until they are fully feathered and capable of flight at about 18 to 21 days old.
If you do find a nest, leave it alone; the female or her offspring will typically come back and recycle the material for new nest construction nearby, or simply rebuild a new nest on top of the previous one.
Where to look for a nest
If you've never seen a hummingbird nest, you are not alone. The diminutive nests are well camouflaged with an assortment of lichen, moss, small sticks, seeds and plant scales that make it nearly indistinguishable from the branch or other plant part to which it is attached. In fact, the female is so clever at blending the nest with her surroundings that she will construct the outside facing the sun with lighter materials, with the darker materials positioned in the shade.
Here are a few clues that will help you spot a nest:
*Look for hummers testing the strength of a prospective nesting site by repeatedly landing on top of a branch or limb.
*Humidity is important for the developing embryo, so a female may build her nest above or near a water source.
*Hummingbirds often build their nest on horizontal tree limbs, in a forked branch or at the tip of a branch protected by overhead leaves, in large shrubs and vines, or even large fern fronds.
*Preferred nesting locations include a place with a good leaf canopy overhead to shelter the nest from rain and sun.
*If all else fails, you can always look for a female and follow her flight until she goes to her nest.