Attract All The Hummingbirds To Your Yard With An Overripe Banana

It is easy to recall how hummingbirds take flight to a new height with their hovering skills, but it is harder to wrap one's head around just how much food hummingbirds need to fuel these acts of avian expertise. Hummingbirds have to keep a busy schedule, visiting anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 flowers a day, in order to eat every 10-15 minutes. 

Flower nectar is not the only key to a balanced hummingbird diet; these birds also feed on insects. Besides providing shaded nectar feeders loaded with sugar water, you can ensure the yard provides valuable insect protein by avoiding pesticides and nurturing insect and hummingbird-pollinated plants. 

The easiest way to attract these bite-sized snacks for the hummingbirds, however, is by utilizing your overripe fruit or banana peels. In fact, attracting more birds to your garden is one of the best uses for banana peels beyond composting. Simply hang these fruits near a hummingbird feeder and tiny fruit flies will appear in no time, drawing in hungry hummingbirds! If the bananas are not yet ripe enough to put into the yard, use an oven to ripen them in a flash.

There are a couple of things to consider before putting up feeders and overripe bananas throughout your yard. First off, think strategically when you put up your bird feeders. Since hummingbirds are territorial, take care to place the feeders within your own line of sight, but out of sight from other feeders. 

Do keep in mind, however, that even though the intention is that these overripe bananas and banana peels attract fruit flies, they could also attract larger insects. While the ants and gnats attracted to decaying bananas are a part of the hummingbird diet, larger insects like moths, weevils, and spiders may also be drawn in. Similarly, the same insects that appeal to hummingbirds could also attract wasps, which is counterproductive to the mission of attracting more hummingbirds.

Just like how a restaurant's atmosphere makes the food taste better, the experience of enjoying a cup of coffee or nutritious breakfast is further enhanced by casual bird watching through the dining room window. If nature is on your side, a hummingbird just might make a pit stop in your own yard.