The Columbine and the hummingbird

A hummingbird works on native Columbine in the woodland garden in early spring.

Spring in the woodland garden: Importance of native plants

One look at a native columbine and you know they were “made” for hummingbirds.

The colours – a vibrant red and yellow. The shape – long tubular flower petals perfect for our hummingbirds’ long beaks and even longer tongues. The way the entire flower hangs off the stem.

It’s the perfect match for the hummingbird.

This week in the garden watching hummingbirds work the columbines was all I needed to be reminded of the important relationship between our native columbine and hummingbirds. In fact, it proved to be even more verification of how important native plants are to our local wildlife.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our ruby-throated hummingbirds arrived to our garden just as the columbines were preparing to open.

Columbines, along with Solomon’s seal and a handful of other natives and non-native plants, are just a few of the key plants that provide a food source for migrating hummingbirds. Flowering trees such as crabapples, serviceberries and a host of other shrubs also play a major role in helping migrating birds, such as hummingbirds.

For more on columbines, check out my earlier posts here.

For my post on helping migrating birds, see my earlier post here.

Commercial feeders are no replacement for native plants

One look at all the activity around our commercial feeders (Amazon link) and it’s easy to forget that these tiny birds that have just made their way from as far away as Central America to our backyards in the northeastern United States, Ontario and more northerly parts of Canada, are more dependent on native plants than our feeders.

In other parts of the world, including the southwestern U.S., into western Canada, a similar dependency exists with the beautiful Rocky Mountain columbines and other native plants that feed the migrating hummingbirds along their journey.

Hummingbird feeders have certainly become an important, readily available, high-energy food source that is available to migrants as they make their way to their summer breeding ground. But, it is plants like columbines that ensure hummingbirds’ survival over long stretches of uninhabited areas where feeders are not as readily available.

Columbines can be an important food source for migrating hummingbirds in early spring.

Not only are native plants, including columbines, important as an early food source for hummingbirds, they also feed smaller insects which can be a source of protein for hummingbirds.

Many of us might not realize that insects actually make up a huge part of the hummingbirds’ diet. In fact, leaving pieces of fruit out near a feeder to attract fruit flies can also be beneficial for hummingbirds. When it comes to feeding their babies on the nest, it’s small insects and spiders that make up the diet of both the tiny babies and their parents.

The Rocky Mountain columbines – non-native in my location – as well as the more hybridized varieties may not be as beneficial to hummingbirds in our area, but more than likely offer some of the same benefits as our native plants.

It’s always good to include at least some native varieties in your naturalized garden.

If you don’t have native columbines in your garden, be sure to put them on your list for next season. If you can still find plants are your local nursery, pick up a few and get them in the ground for the hummers. If you can’t find any plants, you can probably purchase some seed which you can try to sew directly in the garden or grow in pots.

For more on native plants and their importance in the landscape, check out my earlier posts here.

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