Males appear first, females later. May. But when that first gorgeous little fellow checks out my garden, I want to be sure he finds something wonderful. One part granulated white sugar in four parts of clean boiled water. Finding such a rich source of food, a hummingbird is likely to stay for several days before moving on. In a few weeks, with more hummers still arriving daily, the columbines bloom in my yard, and they provide an added incentive to the tiny birds.
Hummingbirds adore columbines.
I suspect that the columbine and the hummingbird helped to create each other, adapting to each other's shape and habits. The blossom's five long red spurs each contain a tiny meal for a hummingbird. Inserting its long bill into a spur of the flower, the hummingbird bumps its head onto the pollen-laden anthers that hang below the petals. When it goes to the next flower, the bird gets another taste of nectar, and the genetic material from one columbine mixes with that of another. Everybody is happy.