Bananas have several uses for hummingbirds, there are a source of nutrients that are essential for the health of your hummingbirds.
We know that hummingbirds like sweet fruits especially the ones that are soft and have been eaten by birds or other birds.
In this article, we are going to explore the benefits of bananas to hummingbirds, if bananas are harmful to them, and lots more.
If you are a lover of hummingbirds, you are definitely going to enjoy the things we have to explore here.
What are the health benefits of bananas?
Bananas have several health benefits to animals especially birds.
Hummingbirds are particularly attracted to very sweet foods Especially fruits.
The health benefits of bananas still hummingbirds include.
- Provision of vitamins; Vitamins are essential nutrients for the health of any animal, And bananas are packed with vitamins. Banana has vitamin B6 and this is very important for the immune system of hummingbirds.
- Iron: Like you already know iron is a very important mineral for the bone density of Hummingbirds. This in turn increases the quality of blood that is produced which in turn boosts their immunity to a lot of diseases.
- Magnesium: This is a mineral that is available in abundance in bananas, it offers a lot of benefits to hummingbirds it makes them happier and stronger.
- Vitamin A: This is one of the most important vitamins and bananas provide this to your hummingbirds. Very good for the sight of any animal as it promotes eye health.
However you consider banana it’s very healthy for hummingbirds although they should not consume too much of it as primarily their main source of food is nectar and insects.
Bananas are high in fiber this is good for the digestive health of hummingbirds but the watchword should be moderation.
Is banana harmful to hummingbirds?
Bananas are not harmful to hummingbirds, they offer several benefits to these unique hovering birds.
Bananas are not considered harmful to hummingbirds. They can be used in several ways that benefit the birds, these ways include:
- To Attract Insects: Because hummingbirds eat a lot of insects when they are nesting as a source of protein, if you want to provide A natural source or attraction for insects, a very ripe banana or banana peel would do the trick.
- What you have to do is simply chop the ripe bananas into a plate and put them in a feeder, after a day or two you see that insects would naturally be attracted to the bananas, and these insects would attract hummingbirds that would want to feed on them.
- You could also make a slurry with bananas and do the same thing so insects would be attracted to the slurry and your hummingbirds would feed on the insects. You can also spread the slurry made with bananas on the surface that would attract insects and in turn hummingbirds.
The bottom line is bananas are not harmful to hummingbirds because hummingbirds can eat bananas and bananas can be used to serve other purposes that would be beneficial to them.
Related: Here is an article I wrote on do hummingbirds eat grape jelly
How do you feed hummingbirds bananas?
There is no specific way to feed bananas to hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds can eat bananas whether they are chopped, smashed, or blended.
They can also eat bananas straight from the trees.
Let us explore these ways of feeding hummingbirds bananas below:
- Chopped: you can feed hummingbirds bananas by chopping the bananas into smaller pieces, this makes the pieces easier for the hummingbirds to pick and do whatever they will. This method is quite easy, what you need are your banana, plate, and knife. Once you have chopped the banana you can serve them to your hummingbirds on a tray feeder.
- Blended: when you want to mix sugar water or nectar for your hummingbirds you can easily incorporate banana into the mix by blending the banana in a kind of smooth puree that would easily mix with the nectar or sugar water. After you mix the combination you can easily serve your hummingbirds in a nectar feeder. The banana adds a unique sweetness to the mixture that is second to none and hummingbirds tend to love them.
- Whole: Alternatively you could leave the banana whole outside and the birds would feed on them. When hummingbirds are hungry enough they will eat any bright, sweet fruit that they like and bananas are one of them. So you don’t necessarily have to do special preparation to enable your hummingbirds to eat bananas.
It is known that hummingbirds often eat fruits while those fruits are on the trees, what is required is for the Fruits to be ripe and sweet.
Banana is not the main food source for hummingbirds so you should not spend so much time trying to feed bananas to hummingbirds.
Do hummingbirds eat old bananas?
The older a banana is the sweeter it gets and hummingbirds are attracted to very sweet things so they do consume old bananas.
Old bananas are softer and sweeter than regular bananas or unripe bananas so hummingbirds do consume them.
They can also be used to attract insects that are favorites of hummingbirds.
You can use old bananas to attract fruit flies that your hummingbirds would love to feed on, this is very useful and very nutritious to hummingbirds.
You can easily observe hummingbirds feasting on fruit flies and they would eat virtually every fruit fly they come across around old bananas.
Also here is an article I wrote on do hummingbirds eat oranges
Do hummingbirds eat fruit?
Yes, hummingbirds eat fruits, their diet consists of a variety of fruits, insects, and nectar.
Hummingbirds eat bananas, grapes, strawberries.
Essentially fruits that are bright in color and sweet attract hummingbirds.
Just like other animals, hummingbirds need a variety of food to get the right nutrients.
What is a hummingbird’s favorite food?
The favorite food of hummingbirds is a combination of nectar and sugar water as a source of carbohydrates, and insects as a source of protein.
It has been observed by ornithologists that hummingbirds can in a day eat up to their body weight in the above-mentioned foods.
They eat insects such as fruit flies, ants, weevils, mosquitoes, beetles, spiders, and mites.
The insects are the primary sources of protein, minerals, and fats that hummingbirds do not ordinarily get from fruits and nectar.
Fruits, nectar, and sugar water provide energy for hummingbirds more than insects ever could.
It is, therefore, safe to say hummingbirds favorite foods are:
- Nectar.
- Insects.
- Sugar water.
With the above combination, you have covered the favorites of hummingbirds.
Do hummingbirds like banana peels?
Banana peels are not particularly good for hummingbirds, however, they would eat through the peel to get to the fruit of the banana.
However, the peels of bananas can serve as a magnet for insects like fruit flies.
We would advise that you do not try to force-feed banana peels to hummingbirds, this could end up causing serious damage to the hummingbirds.
Conclusion
Bananas are packed with nutrients that are beneficial to hummingbirds and even beyond this, other parts of bananas have uses that could benefit your desire to feed hummingbirds.
Feeding hummingbirds can be a very fulfilling endeavor that serves this beautiful species of birds and also would benefit you as you get fulfillment from attending to nature and this magnificent creature of nature.
We hope that with this article you are well informed about bananas as a food source for hummingbirds.
