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Quinta Mazatlan
Quinta
MAZATLAN
Red Matters to Hummingbirds
Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center
By Quinta Mazatlán-Center for Urban Ecology
Red has been known amongst many cultures and throughout many eras as the color of love.
It is associated with energy, passion, and warmth. Psychologists have studied the intricate details of its association with deep, complex emotions.
Well, the birds think otherwise. If you’re a hummingbird, anything red simply has the potential to be food. Tasty nectar, vital to life as a hummingbird, is often associated with large red flowers. These flowers have adapted to attract hummingbirds and insects, as it is those animals who pollinate the flower and allow the plant species to continue on to the next generation.
Hummingbirds have such a keen sense for the color red. There’s a long-standing belief that if you dye your sugar-water solution red for homemade hummingbird nectar, you’ll attract more hummingbirds. Truth is, the amount of red that is already present on your plastic feeder is more than enough for them to be magnetized to it. No solid research has found that red dye negatively affects hummingbirds, but there is also no research showing that it isn’t harmful. Side-by-side studies have shown that feeders filled with red-colored sugar-water don’t attract any more hummingbirds than feeders with sugar-water not dyed red. So, why take the risk? Would you cover your entire breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a substance whose effects you knew little about, just to make it look more appealing? Please, err on the safe side, and leave your sugar-water in its natural, clear color.
Visit Quinta Mazatlán in McAllen, Texas to view the beautiful hummingbirds around the red flowered Turk’s Cap. Think about planting Turk’s Cap in your backyard to create your own backyard sanctuary. Follow Quinta Mazatlán on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube @QuintaMazatlan to learn more about our natural and cultural heritage in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.
M Buff-bellied Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
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