Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and Trumpet-creeper

 

My large mass of Trumpet-creeper (Campsis radicans) in my backyard. It is an irresistible magnet for hummers.

I was able to work with the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that constantly visit my snarled lianas of Trumpet-creeper (Campsis radicans) today. I put an iPhone photo of that floriferous mass here, along with two images of the hummingbirds (at least two visit routinely). A nectaring bird will often sit on the flower lip and plunge its body deep into the corolla tube.

The hummers also perch on the flowers and flycatch from them. Trumpet-creeper is heavily beset with extrafloral nectaries that produce sugary secretions, and these lure an abundance of ants, and other small insects such as bees and wasps. Thus, the plant not only provides an abundance of regular flower nectar for the hummers, it also provides ample protein in the form of small insects.

I know some people shy away from this tropical-looking species (most of the plants in the Bignoniaceae family ARE tropical) because it can be unruly, but any hummingbird enthusiasts would do well to plant some Trumpet-creeper.