How to build a hummingbird army. I'm Mimi Fotz, and this is Hello from the Vand. We've talked about pollinators before. Butterflies, moss, bees, wasps, but did you know that there's one pollinator that is so unique you can build your own army of them? It's the hummingbird, and that's what we're talking about today. Hummingbirds are incredible pollinators. I like them around because they're great for my garden, and they're hilarious to watch. I'm a simple woman and I find hummingbirds exhilarating. Hummingbirds are native to the Western Hemisphere. We're talking Alaska to the tip of South America, with the bulk of the species in Central America, around Mexico. Sadly, if you live in Europe, Asia, Africa, there are no known hummingbirds in your area. So building a hummingbird army is not really something you can do. They're strictly a Western Hemisphere bird. But with that, let's talk about our pollinating soldiers. The average hummingbird is about three to five inches long and weighs around 10 to 20 grams. They're tiny. There are several types of moth that are actually two, three, and four times bigger than hummingbirds. And yet, in the western United States, migratory hummingbirds, despite their size, are the main pollinator for over 130 plant species. This means that they pollinate and without them, the plant would not exist. So we want hummingbirds around, not just because they're adorable and entertaining, but because they are an amazing part of essential pollination and ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere. As of 2025, there are 375 known hummingbird species in the Western Hemisphere. But here's the deal, they're tiny, they're fast. The bulk of them live in forested areas around Mexico. It's fully possible that there are species of hummingbirds that we just haven't discovered yet. But the tragic part is of 375 known hummingbird species, over 60% of them, about 250 species, are seeing dramatic declines in population. So doing your part to build a tiny hummingbird army is actually part of an incredible conservation effort. Here's what you need to know the average lifespan of a hummingbird is about three to five years. And it only takes until their 12th month of life for them to be considered a mature bird. That means their second year of life is spent having offspring. During this short life, the migratory hummingbirds will travel from North to South America and back again several times. Hummingbirds do not like to stay in the cold. Their tiny bodies are not adapted for any sort of cold weather. They will return to the northern hemisphere in the spring. The males arrive first and the females arrive about one to two weeks later. With that in mind, here's what you need to know about the male-female relationships of hummingbirds. The females, when they arrive, the first thing they do is get to work. Unlike the human population, male hummingbirds are not involved in the design and construction of hummingbird homes. It's all the female bird. Once her nest is built and she feels that it's ready, she will seek out a mate. This is the male hummingbird's time to shine. They will fly up to 49 feet in the air and soar towards the earth in fantastic spins and dives. The males have even been observed pointing the most fantastically colored parts of their feathers and their plumage towards the sun for the females to see. It's basically, hey babe, look at me. I'm so shiny, I'm so beautiful, I'm so spelt. I can fly in circles. Look at me, I'm incredible. And then the girl bird says, Oh, you're beautiful and you're so fast and it's a straw. Then they have some eggs. Once the eggs are laid, it's all on the female bird. She will sit on these eggs for about 18 to 19 days while the eggs incubate. When they hatch, they are tiny and featherless. It takes about eight days for them to start growing their own feathers, and about three weeks before they are ready to leave the nest. Did you know that in this three-week period, these tiny hummingbirds are their most vulnerable natural predators to the hummingbird, like the praying mantis, spiders, and other birds, will seek out baby hummingbirds to eat. But if these vulnerable little hummingbirds make it to the stage where they can leave the nest, they're usually very quick to get exploring. You see, hummingbirds have incredible memories. They can visit hundreds, if not thousands, of flowers in a day and remember each one. When it comes to human-supplied feeders, the hummingbirds will remember where the feeders are, whether they are clean, and if they are safe. If they find a feeder that is a consistent supply of safety and food, they will pass that knowledge down to their offspring. This is what you want. You want hummingbird parents to trust you with their babies. Did you know that you can have a group of hummingbirds that knows you and prefers your feeders? That's right. Hummingbirds can recognize human faces and get used to certain humans. In the last area that I lived, I worked for nearly a decade to build a trusted source of food and safety for my local hummingbirds. After a few years, I actually had hummingbirds that knew me and would let me know that their feeders were getting empty by dive-bombing my head every time I exited my back door. They would buzz the tower, if you will, to let me know that they wanted fresh syrup. I would refill their feeders and they would then happily buzz around me and hover near my face. I swear to you, it is the closest I will ever get to being a real life Disney princess. If you too would like to have your own fairy tale experience, I can help you and tell you what I've done. Put out clean feeders, provide a safe place for the birds, and then be patient. Putting out a hummingbird feeder is the first essential step here. I like to put my feeders out about a week before they're forecasted to come to my area. For me, this is the end of March. If you live somewhere like Florida, you can do this any time of year. If you're worried that we're heading into summer and you haven't put feeders up, I promise it's okay. Do not be discouraged if you put out a feeder and don't see birds for a couple of weeks. Keep at it. Due to their size and vulnerability, you're going to want to put the feeder up high. I normally hang mine about six to seven feet in the air. But what do you feed them? Hummingbirds prefer a simple sugar syrup. Here's the deal: it has to be plain white sugar. You may be thinking, I'm going to give my birds organic sugar in the raw because I have fancy birds. No, no, don't do that. Anything but plain white table sugar will make the hummingbird sick. They cannot handle or process things like organic sugar. It needs to just be white industrial sugar. If you have room to plant honeysuckle and native flowers, hummingbirds do love showy milkweed. This will help draw the birds to your feeders even more, as it is their natural source of food. The next thing you're going to do is you're going to switch your food regularly. When I whip up a batch of hummingbird syrup, I do a process of four to one. So four cups of water to one cup of white table sugar. You then have to boil it for at least a minute, so a hard boil for about a minute to get rid of impurities. It's important to the hummingbird's health that you rotate the food in your feeders every few days. Here's the deal: mold needs sugar to grow. Hummingbird food is just sugar, so it tends to mold quickly in the heat. That's why you need to clean your feeders every few days. You are keeping the mold at bay. Hummingbird metabolism is out of this world. They have the fastest metabolism of any vertebrates in the entire world. This means that their body burns food at an incredibly fast rate. They have to eat constantly, all day, seeking out food about every 10 minutes. This is because they beat their wings at about 90 times per second. And to sustain this wing beat pattern of 90 times per second, they have to expend a lot of energy. It's the human equivalent of about 150,000 calories per day. And if you think that's impressive, the heart rate of the blue-throated hummingbird has been as high as 1,260 beats per minute, and they have a breathing rate of about 250 breaths per minute. To give you a human comparison, my personal resting heart rate is around 58 beats per minute, which means that it takes the hummingbird heart about two seconds to do what it takes my heart a full minute to do. Nature is incredible. So let's say you put out your feeders, midsummer, will the birds come? Yes, they will. You want the birds to recognize your place as the one that has good food no matter how late in the season. And before we go, according to the International Hummingbird Society, here are some other tips to attract hummingbirds to your area. Remember that hummingbirds need water for bathing. I tend to keep shallow dishes of water placed strategically around my yard for this exact purpose. You see, hummingbirds have to bathe regularly due to the nature of the nectar that they eat. Next, if you see a hummingbird nest, don't touch it. The hummingbirds will return and sometimes reuse their nests. So if you see one, don't take it down. Just leave it where it is. Even if it looks abandoned, you don't need to take it down. The birds will be back. If you're worried that you have nowhere to put up a bird house for hummingbirds, know that they don't need them. They are not cavity nesters. They do not prefer bird houses. It's not really a thing. And finally, remember to spoil your hummingbird army. Remember that hummingbirds return to sites where they have found good food supplies the year before and where they find safety and water. Good luck building your army. I'm Mimi Fots, and this has been Hello from the Van.