To attract hummingbirds the thing to remember is variety. There are many things to keep in mind as listed below.

Flowers

Hummingbirds loves flowers so plant lots of them. Try to choose flowers that bloom at different times of the year to keep attracting more hummers to your yard. Once attracted to your yard they will also come to your feeders for a bird's eye view of them. Flowers will provide nectar for the hummers and attract insects that the birdswill eat as well.

Water

Hummingbirds do most of their drinking at flowers but they do like to take a bath every now and then. They can use beads of water on leaves or at shallow brooks. If you have a bird bath make sure there are shallow areas for the hummers to bathe. A few flat rocks in the water will be used by many different birds. Hummingbirds will also fly through the spray of your sprinklers to bathe.

Feeders

Hummingbird feeders must be kept clean and provide a consistent supply to keep the hummers coming back for more. Wash feeders every two or three days. When you buy a hummingbird feeder make sure it is one you can take apart and clean thoroughly. Fermented solution can be harmful to hummers.

To make sugar water to fill your feeders, mix one part sugar to four parts water. Boil 2 minutes and allow to cool before filling feeders. After the hummers start coming to your feeders you can gradually taper the sugar back to one part sugar to six parts water. You do not need to add red coloring to your solution. There is usually enough red on a hummingbird feeder to attract hummingbirds. Do not use honey in your feeders. It ferments too quickly and can grow a mold that can be fatal to hummingbirds.

In my area of the country we can leave hummingbird feeders up year around but we are the minority. Hummingbirds migrate and so you need to have the feeders ready for the arrival of the hummingbirds in the spring. The timing will vary depending on where you live. The time to take down your feeder will vary, too. Leaving your feeder up will not prevent the hummers from migrating. Hummingbirds begin to migrate when there are still flowers blooming and insects available to feed on. If there are still hummers coming to your feeder you may comtinue to feed them. They know when to move on. If you live where hummers stay year round then your feeders may sustain them over the harsh times in winter.

Sun and Shade

Creat areas of sun and shade in your yard. If your yard is sunny plant trees and shrubs to create a variety of areas of sun and shade. If it is shady open up some sunny spaces.

Levels of Vegetation

Create different levels of vegetation in your yard. Planting flowers, shrubs and trees gives birds a choice of places to hang out. Hummingbirds can be territorial about their sources of nectar. If you provide a variety in your landscape it gives more places for more birds to perch, fly and feed in.

A ruby-throated hummingbird only weighs about 3 grams or 1/10th the weight of a first class letter.

A hummingbird's heart beats 1,260 times per minute.

Humminbirds can fly forward, backward and even, very briefly, upside down.

Some rufous hummingbirds fly from Alaska 3,000 miles to their wintering grounds in Mexico.

A resting hummingbird takes 250 breaths per minute.

Hummingbird wings beat at 78 times per second during regular flight and up to 200 times per second during courtship displays.

An average hummingbird eats half it's weight in sugar each day.

Other visitors to hummingbird feeders include swifts, woodpeckers, jays, oriols, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, mockingbirds, warblers, tanagers, cardinals, grosbeaks, finches, sparrows, bats, raccoons, chipmunks, and squirrels.

Here are some of the many reasons why you may not be getting hummingbirds at your feeder.

• Your feeding solution may have fermented.
• Keep feeders clean and fresh.
  
• You live in a poor habitat.
• An area without flowers will not attract hummingbirds.
  
• Your habitiat might be too good.
• If there are too many hummingbird flowers around hummers may not bother going to feeders.
  
• It may be breeding season.
• Hummingbirds that have been to your feeders may have moved to a different area to breed.
  
• You might just be looking at the wrong time.
• If there aren't many hummers in your area then you might just be missing them.