Hummingbirds and butterflies
Hummingbirds and some butterflies will begin their annual migrations south over thousands of miles. A hummingbird may add on two/thirds of its weight over July and August to get ready for their flight. That added weight gain is only around two grams. Once fully fattened, a hummingbird can fly as much as 600 miles of its migration between fuel stops. I appreciate this phenomenon as one of nature’s wonders, and it seems truly a miracle that monarch butterflies can travel from Canada to Mexico each year. It is certainly one of the pleasures of gardening to provide food for these lovely creatures as they gather strength for their flights.
Each spring the male hummingbirds arrive first from their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America. The female arrives shortly thereafter and courtship flights begin. Soon the female constructs a dainty, cup-shaped nest about the size of a ping-pong ball. She builds the nest of soft plant fibers and covers the outside with bits of gray-green lichen. The nest is anchored in place with sticky spider webs. The female then lays two white elliptical eggs. The young birds mature and leave the nest in about three weeks.
These tiny birds are the acrobats of the bird world. They can hover in place, or fly forward, backward, sideways, diagonally and even upside down! Their tiny wings beat over 50 times a second. Because they have the highest metabolic rate of any warm-blooded animal, they are constantly searching for food.
In addition to planting flowers that attract humming birds, many bird lovers put out hummingbird feeders. The best feeders have perches so the hummers aren’t forced to hover while they drink. The nectar should be made up of one part sugar to four parts water and cooled before it is put in the feeder. Be sure that feeder has an opening large enough to insert a bottle brush for weekly scrubbing. Rinse it with hot soapy water once a week. HummZinger and Nectar Bar are two commercial names for good feeders. Be sure to keep the feeders filled until October. Besides nectar from feeders and flowers, humming birds eat spiders, flies, aphids, and gnats.
Over the years I have noticed that many gardeners are planting flowers, bushes and vines that attract hummers. Bee Balm, (Monarda spp.), Butterfly bush (Buddleia), Cardinal flower, (Lobelia), Rose of Sharon and other Hibiscus, (Hibiscus, spp.), Phlox, (Phlox spp.) Hollyhock, (Althea spp.), Impatiens (Impatiens spp.), Salvia, (Salvia spp.) Petunia (Petunia spp.), Begonia, (Begonia spp.), Trumpet Creeper Vine, (Campsis radicans) and Trumpet Honeysuckle, (Lonicera), various mints, wild jewelweed, (Impatiens), are some of the plants that attract humming birds.
Butterflies depend on plants in many ways. The most successful butterfly gardens include plants that meet the needs of butterflies during all four stages of their life cycle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and adult. After mating, butterflies search for a specific kind of ‘’host’’ plant to lay their eggs. For example, monarchs lay eggs on milkweed, black swallowtails on parsley and Eastern tiger swallowtails on tulip tree or wild cherry, Karner blue butterflies lay eggs only on lupines. Some butterflies lay eggs on more than one type of plant.
In a few days caterpillars emerge from the eggs and begin to eat. Caterpillars are selective eaters and only feed on specific kinds of plants. If the desired plants aren’t available, the caterpillars will starve rather than eat another type of leaf. Most butterfly caterpillars feed on native plants and are not considered agricultural or ornamental pests. When they are fully grown, they attach themselves to a stem and form into chrysalises. After emerging from the chrysalis, the adult soon begins to search for nectar-rich flowers.
Some host plants are Butterflyweed, (Asclepias tuberosa), Parsley, (Petroselinum crispum ), Dill, (Anethum graveolens), Spicebush, (Lindera benzoin), and Tulip Tree, (Liriodendron tulipifera).
Nectar sources are Azalea, (Rhododendron spp.), Butterfly Bush, (Buddleia), Eupatorium, (Eupatorium spp.) New England aster, (Aster novae-angliae), Pineapple sage, (Salvia rutilans), Purple coneflower, (Echinacea purpurea), yellow-orange Cosmos, (Cosmos sulphureus ), Impatiens, Mexican sunflower, (Tithonia rotundifolia), French marigold, (Tagetes patula), and Zinnias.
Monarch butterflies are the champions of migration. They have been documented traveling 265 miles in one day and they weigh .27 to .75 grams! They flap their wings only five to twelve times a second. In late August through September and into early October, the last of about six summer generations makes the trip to Mexico.
They spend the winter in Mexico and live longer than the previous generations. This is the generation that starts the spring migration north. Their offspring continue the trip.
If you want to see the massing of monarchs at Point Pelee this fall, Sunday, September 29th, 2002 was reported as the peak time last year. They use this peninsula as a resting area before they cross the Great Lakes.
To learn more about monarch butterflies, go to www.learner.org./jnorth/index.html on the Internet. You can also participate in reporting numbers of monarchs seen at different places at this internet site.
In our garden, we are happy to see that the butterflyweed has produced two seedpods, but we have seen only one monarch. We have phlox, petunias, cone flowers, bee balm, and a struggling butterfly bush. There is a lovely white butterfly bush at 190 Mohawk Street.
However, all is not joy for the vegetable gardener who also loves butterflies. The most common butterfly in our yard is the white butterfly whose caterpillar can grow on broccoli and other cabbage plants. To have edible broccoli, we have to dust with Baccilus thumbergii, which is parasitic on the caterpillars.
– Mary