Anna’s hummingbird. Photo by Steve Caldwell

Did you know….

….those hummingbirds in your yard are helping control summertime bugs?

Those dainty little nectar-drinkers are major insectivores. Tiny as they are, those high-energy bodies can’t exist on carbohydrates alone. They need protein to build muscle and replace feathers.

Research has shown that hummingbirds consume aphids, gnats, mosquitoes, spiders, and other small insects or insect larvae. Their long tongues have brushy tips to trap insects they find on flowering plants or on the wing.

They’ve been known to pluck insects, or spiders themselves, right out of spider webs, taking some of that web silk with them to their nests. They’ve also been observed hovering over streams or other water sources in the midst of insect clouds, snatching high-protein meals left and right.

Most hummingbirds drink nectar from flowers for the instant energy that carbohydrates and sugars provide. These birds expend more energy for their weight than any other animal in the world, mostly in helicopter-like flying and keeping their tiny, heat-radiating bodies warm.

Hummers meet their high energy demand by eating more than half their weight in food and drinking up to eight times their body weight in water every day. They convert some carbs into fats that burn efficiently longer, but they also need nitrogen to make protein.

Scientists think hummers evolved as insectivores to develop a more complete diet.  Bugs are tremendous sources of fat, protein, nitrogen, and amino acids -- the very things hummingbirds need to make baby hummingbirds, build strong bodies, and zip to far-off tropical areas to spend the winter.

Think of it as surviving in the short term on a high carb diet, but needing more complete and balanced nutrition for the long term goals of reproduction, growth and migration.

So if you have lots of nectar-producing flowers in your garden, provide water, and avoid using insecticides, you’re likely to draw hummers looking for a healthy lifestyle. 

Your clean hummingbird feeders with properly-prepared sugar water (four parts boiled water to one part sugar, without additives like food coloring) supplements the natural flower nectar supply. 

If your sugar solution attracts ants, bees or wasps, don’t count on the hummers being insectivore-enough to take care of the intruders, though. Rather than using insect repellents that could hurt the birds, try applying petroleum jelly around the openings of the feeders and on the wire from which it hangs. Or spray the feeder with a fine mist of water to both chase away the insects for a while and provide a hummer shower.

The main benefit of feeders, of course, is drawing those little jewels close for your observing pleasure.  Next time you’re watching, see if you can catch a glimpse of them also providing you with a little bug control.