Returning Illinois Hummingbirds: How To Attract Them To Your Yard

According to the many websites that keep track of them, hummingbirds are on their way back to Illinois from their winter homes at this very moment.

There’s something genuinely magical about the first buzzing emerald flashes in your yard each spring, because it marks the arrival of our summer visitors, the hummingbirds.  These tiny birds are on their way north from their winter homes in Mexico and Central America, and with a little prep, you can make your yard in Northern Illinois into the hummingbird equivalent of a five‑star rest stop.

For most of us in this region, that big push of Ruby‑throated Hummingbirds is usually here by late April into early May. Putting up your feeders and planting nectar sources a week or two before they arrive is certainly helpful to them as they finish their long journey.

Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds May Be Small, But They've Got Huge Appetites

Maybe a better word to use when describing their appetites is insatiable.

To keep their super-charged metabolisms going strong, hummingbirds can visit between 1,000 and 2,000 flowers a day, which most of us don't have in our yards.

Luckily, you won't need that many flowers. If you want to attract them to your yard, here's what experts like those at Audubon.org suggest you do:

• Plant native, brightly colored flowers with tubular shapes that hold nectar, like bee balm, cardinal flower, salvia, honeysuckle, and columbine. Clumps of blooms are easier for them to spot as they fly by.
• Use feeders filled with homemade nectar: a simple mix of four parts water to one part white granulated sugar (no dyes, and don't use honey). Hang them in shady spots near flowers for best results.
• Leave some sticks and small branches on bushes and trees to enable ready perches for hummingbirds.
• Hang several feeders far enough apart that the hummingbirds cannot see one another; this will prevent one bird from dominating the rest.
• Be sure to clean hummingbird feeders every 2-3 days, or daily under particularly hot conditions. Always clean the feeder immediately if the nectar appears cloudy, regardless of how long it has been.

But Wait, There's More...

Since I spent a bunch or time digging up info on this topic, I don't want to waste these fun facts that I found about Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds:

• They weigh about as much as three paperclips but can fly up to 500 miles at a stretch during migration.
• Their hearts can beat over 1,200 times per minute, and their wings flap 15 to 80 times per second, which is what gives them their signature hum.
• Only the males develop the brilliant ruby‑red throat patch once they’re mature.
• Hummingbirds have excellent memory and can remember which flowers they’ve visited and how long it takes for nectar to refill.
• They can fly backwards and even hover in midair.
• Their tongues are specially adapted with grooves that allow them to lap up nectar up to 13 times per second.