The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is, in many ways, a particular bird, seeming to prefer to nectar on red and orange flowers. This preference opens up interesting questions of behavioral ecology, evolution, and even etymology.
First, let’s deal with the colors of the flowers that the hummingbird chooses. Why not include yellow flowers, purple flowers, white flowers? The hummingbird likely sees orange as a shade of red, without its own identity, like Europeans did up until the 1600’s. Chaucer referred to orange as the “color betwixe yellow and reed.” It was not until colonial merchants visited tropical Asia and returned with naranjas, that the color became synonymous with the fruit.
Do the hummingbirds actually prefer red-hued flowers? Controlled preference tests indicate that they do not, and will tend toward any color that provides a nectar reward.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on the purple flowers of obedient plant. Photo by Jim Hudgins/USFWS
So why are hummingbird pollinated flowers red? It turns out, most other pollinators, like bees, have trouble finding or are not attracted to red flowers, which often lack fragrance and are tubular, making these flowers difficult to access for non-hummingbird visitors. Bees might be less satisfactory pollinators for some plants as well, as they eat the pollen and the nectar. Studies have found that orange jewelweed pollinated by hummingbirds sets seed at a higher rate than insect-pollinated alone. Thus, in an evolutionary sense, the flowers prefer the hummingbirds.
It’s interesting to note that red and orange flowers are relatively uncommon in Wisconsin. Plants include wild columbine, scarlet painted cup, honeysuckles, jewelweed, cardinal flower, and scarlet catchfly. While hummingbirds may be associated with these bright flowers, in reality their diet consists of a much wider base beyond nectar. This includes tree sap from swells of yellow-bellied sapsuckers, and the most reliable source is arthropods and other insects.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on the red flowers of the native cardinal flower. Photo by Andy REago & Chrissy McClarren
At Faville Grove you might see a Ruby-throated Hummingbird whirring past at any time. If you sit at a patch of wild columbine, around the Kettle Pond, you might see a hummingbird visit (pictured below).
One important threat to these hummingbirds is the invasive burdock, since hummingbirds–just one tenth an ounce–can become trapped on the sticky seeds and die. We control this species at Faville Grove, and the abundant columbine helps make happy hummingbirds. Photo by Drew Harry
Written by Drew Harry, Faville Grove Sanctuary land steward
Cover photo by Kelly Colgan Azar
