14 Things To Do In Your Yard & Garden That Help Hummingbirds Survive Fall Migration

As summer fades to fall, hummingbirds begin preparing themselves for the long journey ahead. This can be an exciting time for bird lovers, as this is the season you'll likely have the most sightings. While it may be fun for us, these tiny birds are in preparation mode, stocking up on food before heading south. Some hummingbirds travel thousands of miles to reach their destination, so it's not unusual for them to double their weight so they have plenty of fuel during migration. This intense flight can be hard on their little bodies, so backyards can be a lifeline for migrating hummingbirds.

Although they can travel hundreds of miles without stopping, it's crucial for them to find resources along the way. Like all animals, hummers need food, water, and shelter to survive, and unfortunately, many of their necessary resources can become scarce during this time of year. Providing them with safe places to eat, bathe, and rest can mean the difference between life and death for these little migratory birds. Luckily, there are several easy steps you can take to make your backyard a safe haven for hummingbirds during migration.

Light pollution has become an issue for birds and other animals, and a study published in Science revealed that sky brightness worldwide has increased by approximately 9.6 percent each year between 2011 and 2022. Migrating birds, including hummingbirds, rely on light like the moon and stars to guide them on their journey south. When the night sky is lit up, birds can mistake the lights as navigational cues and fly into urban areas. Once drawn in, they can become trapped, repeatedly circling the area and wasting energy needed for their flight. Exhausted and disoriented, they're also at a higher risk of danger, like striking buildings.

Reducing the light at night can help keep birds on the right path. Plus, you may save a bit of money on your electricity bill. While the easiest solution would be to turn off all the lights before heading to bed, this may not be practical for everyone. Lights with motion sensors can be a great option for most scenarios, as they'll only switch on when you need them to, and you won't have to worry about forgetting to switch them off. It also helps to shield any exterior lights so they shine directly on your yard without illuminating the night sky.

There's a myth that leaving feeders out too late can confuse migrating hummingbirds. Just as birds rely on cues from light, they also use environmental signals to help them know when it's time to migrate. Once the weather cools down and the days become shorter, these small birds take it as a sign to head south and will need plenty of food to sustain them along the way. Even if your usual summer hummingbirds have left, there may be a few late-migrating hummingbirds in need of fuel when other nectar can be hard to find.

If you've noticed fewer hummingbirds at your feeder, resist the urge to take them down right away. Instead, keep them up through the fall, or at least a few weeks after your last sighting. Not only do the available feeders help hummers on their flight, but you may also have the chance to see a rarer species, like broad-billed hummingbirds or calliope hummingbirds. These types are more often spotted during fall months, so your help may be rewarded with a rare sighting.

Watching hummingbirds fly around your feeders can be one of the most enjoyable parts of your day in the summer. Because they're more active at this time, it becomes a habit to check on the feeders, clean, and refill them. Once the activity decreases, it can be easy to forget to keep up with the maintenance or assume it's not at risk of spoilage without the excess heat. Although the feeders don't need to be refreshed as often in cooler weather, it's still important to make sure they're clean and the nectar is safe for the few visitors who stop by.

While hummingbird feeders need to be cleaned and refilled at least every other day in hot weather, you can reduce the frequency to three days a week or even twice per week once the weather cools down. This is typically plenty, assuming there aren't any sick birds or insects contaminating the feeder. To safely clean your hummingbird feeder, disassemble it and use a solution of 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water to scrub every part. Give it a good rinse and refill it with fresh sugar water before placing it back outside.

We typically think of insects as summer pests, but ants, bees, and wasps can still show up even once the temperatures drop. If they find a feeder, they can either contaminate the nectar or clog up the ports. Hummingbirds tend to avoid these feeders, and the last thing we want is to leave these tiny birds with spoiled food or a feeder that's impossible to drink from just when they need energy the most.

To keep these pesky insects out of your hummingbird feeder, you'll want to install guards. Depending on which is the main culprit, you can find deterrents for both ants and flying insects. Ant moats are one of the most popular solutions, which work by trapping ants in water before they have the chance to access the nectar. Luckily, most modern feeders have bee guards, which are covers that make it so the feeding hole is large enough for a hummingbird's beak, but too small for wasps or bees to drink from. If you do notice any insects in the sugar water or port, make sure to clean the feeder immediately and refill it with fresh nectar before putting it back up.

The small but mighty hummingbirds can be fiercely competitive once they've found a reliable food source. While they can be territorial year-round, nectar becomes even more valuable once flowers begin to fade and many feeders have been taken down. If you have a lot of visitors and only one feeder up, there's a good chance a macho hummingbird will do what it can to keep other hungry birds away. Sometimes they send visual or verbal threats to the other visitors, but they may even become physically aggressive. 

Many gardeners think a bigger feeder means more ports to go around, but a hummingbird is bound to come by and defend the territory, no matter how roomy it is. To keep all of the hummingbirds happy and fed, it's better to have several small feeders around the yard than to have one giant one. If you only want to keep a few, try to keep them in secluded areas so newcomers can stop by and drink undetected from a territorial hummer. That said, even hanging a group of them in one spot can attract more hummingbirds, making the territorial one too overwhelmed to attempt to scare them all away.

If you're leaving your hummingbird feeders up through fall, make sure to keep an eye on the upcoming weather. After the first frost, it can be nearly impossible for hummingbirds to find food while on their journey. When they stop by a frozen feeder that's impossible to drink from, they're missing out on valuable nectar when their energy may be running low. Additionally, they can injure themselves when attempting to stick their beaks into a port that's frozen over. Hummingbirds can also be at risk if feeders freeze or leak while the birds are in torpor, a sleep-like state that helps them conserve energy.

One of the best ways you can keep your hummingbird feeder from freezing is to rotate feeders so you always have defrosted nectar ready to go. If you'd prefer to stick to just one feeder, bring it inside on cool nights and place it back outside when you wake up. You can also keep the sugar water from getting too cold by attaching hand warmers to it or wrapping it in a wool sock. Whatever method you choose, make sure to avoid using anything that hummingbirds could get stuck to or tangled up in.

Making homemade hummingbird nectar is as easy as it gets, and both ingredients serve valuable purposes; water keeps hummers hydrated, and the sugar gives them energy. To best mimic natural nectar, the ideal sugar-to-water ratio ranges from 1:3 to 1:5. During the hot summer, hummingbirds rely on water from nectar to prevent dehydration, so most experts recommend using a 1:4 or even 1:5 ratio during this season. Once the temperatures drop, they can benefit from extra calories to stay warm, and upping the sugar content does just that.

Once you notice a chill in the air, adjust your sugar water recipe to a 1:3 ratio, or ⅓ cup of sugar for each cup of water. Although hummingbirds benefit from sweeter water during cooler months, don't increase this ratio in an attempt to help them further. There isn't a lot of research on the effects of excess sugar in homemade hummingbird nectar, so it's best to stick with proven safe ratios to avoid potentially harming the birds. As always, only use refined white sugar and never use honey, powdered sugar, brown sugar, or other alternative sweeteners.

The only thing better than supplemental sugar water for hummingbirds is natural nectar straight from the source. Late summer and fall flowers are pretty and attract hummingbirds, offering easy access to an abundance of food to help them refuel as they burn off energy during their long flight. Not only will hummers have more nectar to drink, but plants also provide habitat for protein-rich insects for them to feed on. These tiny birds can consume up to three times their body weight in a single day, so offering diverse food sources is one of the best ways you can help them in the fall.

Choose fall-flowering plants with tubular blooms for hummingbirds to drink from. Red shades tend to be the most attractive to them, though they'll drink from other flower colors as well. One of the best native plants is pineapple sage (Salvia elegans), a hummingbird favorite. It's an herbaceous perennial (or annual in zones 7 and colder) that reaches up to 5 feet tall and becomes covered in red, tubular flowers from late summer through fall. Although non-native, there are several beautiful petunia varieties that attract hummingbirds and will also provide plenty of nectar into fall.

When searching for the best area to make a pit stop, hummingbirds will be most drawn to yards that don't just provide food, but also offer a safe place to rest. Evergreen trees and shrubs are the best option, as their year-round foliage gives hummingbirds and other animals more cover when hiding from predators or escaping harsh weather. Once the sun sets, hummingbirds find small branches to hang from so they can get some sleep. Evergreen trees provide shelter from cool fall and winter nights, allowing the birds to get some rest before continuing on their journey.

Look for native species, as they have the added benefit of attracting more insects for hummingbirds to fuel up on. Inkberry (Ilex glabra) is an evergreen shrub that has exceptional winter hardiness, so nearly anyone in the U.S. can grow it. If a 10-foot shrub is a bit too large for your yard, there are also compact varieties that are half the size. Native trees, like American Holly (Ilex opaca) or red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), are also great options for providing hummingbirds with insects, shelter, and branches for rest during migration.

You've likely never seen a hummingbird land on the ground, and that's because they've evolved to spend most of their time flying or hovering. Low weight is key for a smooth flight, and stronger, heavier legs would only slow them down. This means that a hummer's legs and feet are built strictly for perching. Because they spend most of their time zipping from flower to flower, they burn a tremendous amount of energy. Perching allows them to conserve energy between meals and rest as they scan the area for other flowers or insects. Even if you don't have trees or shrubs in your yard, you can still give these little birds safe places to rest.

One of the most common perches is a hummingbird swing, which can be an additional decorative element that attracts them to your yard or garden, especially if it's red. Many feeders have perches installed, but the best place to hang a hummingbird swing or perch is within a few feet of feeding areas. By creating a bit of distance, they can better scan the feeding zone and keep an eye out for predators. To give them plenty of options, scatter the resting areas throughout the yard. For example, hang one in an open, sunlit area and another in a more sheltered, shady spot.

All birds need access to water for bathing, though a hummingbird bath is different than the average bird bath. With their legs being so short, they can only bathe in shallow water, so most basins are much too deep for the little hummers. Plus, because they can't hop or walk well, they prefer flying through moving water to rinse off rather than submerging themselves. Cleaning and preening their feathers are especially important habits during migration, as clean feathers help them stay as aerodynamic as possible for their long flight.

In the wild, hummingbirds shower in the rain or clean their feathers in the mist of waterfalls and splashing streams. So, a birdbath that creates light water movement works well to replicate what they naturally like. Misters create a fine spray for them to hover in, while drippers and other water fountains provide shallow, splashing surfaces. You can even turn on a sprinkler for them, particularly those that have a fine mist or arc. Hummingbird water features for fountains often require a deeper basin, but you can make it safe for hummingbirds by adding some stones for them to land on. Additionally, make sure to empty, clean, and refill any baths regularly to prevent disease. 

Unfortunately, chemical treatments don't just target pests; they can also harm pollinators and other beneficial insects. Not only do pesticides kill off one of hummingbirds' main food sources, insects, but exposure to these sprays can be detrimental to their health. Research conducted by scientists at the University of Toronto (via Scientific Reports) revealed that pesticide exposure caused hummingbird metabolisms to drop drastically, which could leave them too tired to meet their high caloric needs. They may eat bugs killed by an insecticide, and chemicals can leech toxins into flower nectar or wind up in their drinking or bathing water, so it's nearly impossible to safely use pesticides in a hummingbird-friendly yard.

Protect hummingbirds by opting for natural pest control methods. To control weeds naturally, start by hand-removing any that pop up, especially when infestations are still small and manageable. You can also use ingredients like boiling water, corn gluten, rubbing alcohol, or vinegar to kill unwanted plants. Luckily, hummingbirds will naturally help manage insect issues by feeding on them. If the bugs are wreaking havoc on your garden, neem oil is a natural substance that can eliminate many garden pests.

When observing hummingbirds, we mostly see them darting from one flower to another or drinking from feeders. However, small invertebrates like insects and spiders can account for half or more of their daily diet, so they need more than just sugar water for optimal health and energy. Although some insects will die off or migrate when temperatures drop, many will spend the fall and winter buried in leaf litter, under the soil, or in grassy areas. One of the most helpful things you can do for hummingbirds is to do less work in part of your yard.

Leaving part of your yard wild will naturally attract more insects, which means more food for migrating hummingbirds. To create a dedicated foraging spot, allow the grass to grow longer, keep a pile of leaf litter, and add some fallen twigs or branches to create a thriving insect habitat. You can also plant some native insect-attracting plants, like flat-topped aster (Doellingeria umbellata), which continues blooming and luring in insects through October.

Hummingbirds may eat up to 2,000 insects each day, and often increase their protein intake during migration, so before you toss out that overripe fruit on the counter, consider putting it outside to help the hummingbirds. As fruit breaks down and ferments, it releases strong scents that naturally attract insects, like fruit flies. These tiny, soft-bodied bugs are a favorite snack of hummers, so it's a simple way to give them a protein-rich meal.

An easy way to help migrating hummingbirds is to make a homemade fruit fly feeder. Cut an opening in the side of a milk or juice jug and toss in any overripe bananas, tomatoes, apple cores, and other fruit or vegetable scraps. Place the jug near your hummingbird feeder by hanging it on a tree branch or shepherd's hook, or setting it on the ground or a plant stand. As the fruit flies swarm the fermented goods, hummingbirds will swoop in to snatch the insects right out of the air or pick them off the surface of the fruit.