By Jan Brick
Certified Master Gardener

Soon the hummingbirds will return to Galveston, thrilling us with their antics as they hover in mid-air with rapidly flapping wings and captivating us with their fragility and elegance. Native to the Americas from Alaska to Chile, most hummingbirds of the U.S. and Canada migrate south in fall to spend the winter in Mexico or Central America passing through our area on the way. Called Hummingbird in English because of the humming sounds that their wings make, they are known by other names as well; in Spanish as Joyas Volardores or flying jewels and in Portuguese as Beijaflor or flower-kisser.
Buzzing to and fro, the hummingbird will attack fellow hummers in an attempt to protect its sources of nectar whether that source is a particular bloom or a feeder. It is important to provide many sources of nourishment and ‘high-energy fuel’ to attract these remarkable birds. In return, hummingbirds transfer pollen from the male part of a flower (the stamens) to the female part (the pistil) of a different flower, thus assuring the   continued existence of another generation of blooms throughout your garden. Since hummingbirds have no sense of smell, flowers need not be scented to be attractive.

There are many plants especially adapted for hummingbird pollination and easily grown in our area. Among them are these perennials: Bee Balm, Butterfly weed, Columbine, Cosmos, Geranium, Sage and Verbena.
Annuals you might try include: Impatiens, Petunias, Begonia and Canna.
Vines, shrubs and trees include the following: Bougainvilla, Lantana, Trumpet Creeper and Trumpet vine as well as Azalea, Bottlebrush, Buddelia, Eucalyptus, Hibiscus and Mimosa. It is important to note that the Japanese Honeysuckle attracts hummingbirds but is an invasive exotic species that’s no longer recommended.
Bright red hummingbird feeders are available at area garden centers and may be used to supplement the blooms in your garden. It is important to use only a sugar-water mix of one part sugar to four parts water in these feeders. Only white granulated sugar is safe to use in hummingbird feeders. Boiling and cooling this mixture before use is recommended to help deter the growth of bacteria. Powdered sugars contain corn starch that can contribute to premature fermentation of the solution while brown sugar contains iron, which can be deadly to hummingbirds. Food coloring is not necessary to attract hummingbirds and may be hazardous to their health. They will feed five to eight times every hour for 30 to 60 seconds at a time while perched or hovering in mid-air.
It is not true that keeping your feeders out too long in the fall will upset the bird’s normal migration pattern. The changing length of daylight hours causes hormonal changes within the hummingbird’s body and triggers migration. Those species of hummingbirds that migrate to the United States must travel very long distances from Mexico and Central America. Ruby-throated hummingbirds travel from Panama to Canada, a journey of 2,000 miles. Incredibly, this long voyage includes a 500 mile, non-stop, 24-hour flight across the Gulf of Mexico. 
Most hummingbirds have an average life span of three to four years. The longest recorded life span was recorded from a bird that was tagged then recaptured 12 years later. The oldest known surviving Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a banded bird that was six years, 11 months old.
Hummingbirds are the tiniest, most mesmerizing birds that will visit your garden. Attracting these iridescent flying jewels to your backyard is easy; give it a try, you will be delighted and enchanted.