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Do Hummingbirds Use Birdhouses? No — Here Is What They Need

Hummingbirds are not cavity nesters, so a birdhouse will never be used. What they actually build, and the four things that bring them in to nest instead.

By Zakaria 4 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A hummingbird's tiny open cup nest of plant down and spider silk, resting in grass
Photo: tinyfroglet, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr
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No, and they never will. Hummingbirds are not cavity nesters — a box with a hole in it is as irrelevant to them as it is to a robin. Anything sold as a “hummingbird house” is garden ornament.

Why a box is the wrong shape entirely

Cavity nesting is a specific strategy with specific anatomy behind it. Species that use boxes — chickadees, bluebirds, wrens, swallows, woodpeckers — are adapted to enter and manoeuvre inside a dark enclosed space.

Hummingbirds are adapted for something else completely: hovering in open air. Their feet are nearly useless for walking. They perch, and they fly, and that is it. An enclosed box is a trap, not a shelter.

What about 'hummingbird houses' for sale?

The enclosed ones with a small hole are decorative products, and they do not get used. The open-sided platforms and “nesting shelves” occasionally sold are at least the right shape — an open cup site — but uptake is very low, because a hummingbird chooses a specific kind of branch and can find far better ones on her own. Money spent on a native flowering shrub buys you considerably more.

What the nest actually is

Small enough that most people who have hosted one never find it.

  • Size: about 1.5 inches across and 1 inch deep — a walnut half, or a large thimble
  • Site: a slender horizontal or slightly downward-sloping branch, usually 10 to 40 feet up, often with a larger branch or leaf directly above it for rain cover and concealment from above
  • Materials: plant down, soft fibres, moss — bound with spider silk
  • Outside: camouflaged with lichen and flakes of bark, so it reads as a bump on the branch
  • Eggs: two, each about the size of a coffee bean
  • Timing: incubation around 14 to 18 days, chicks fledging roughly three weeks later

The spider silk is the clever part. It is elastic, so the cup stretches as the chicks grow — a nest built for two hatchlings accommodates two nearly full-sized birds a fortnight later.

What to do instead of hanging a box

What hummingbirds need to nest in your garden
NeedWhat to provide
Nest sitesNative shrubs and small trees with thin, forked branches. Oaks, birches, hawthorns, dogwoods
Structural materialLeave spider webs alone. This is the single most useful change
Nest liningCinnamon fern, pussy willow catkins, cattail fluff, thistle and dandelion down, clematis seed heads
Food for adultsSeason-long nectar — tubular flowers, plus clean feeders
Food for chicksInsects and spiders, which means no pesticides
WaterA mister or a dripper. They bathe in fine spray, not in a deep bath
SafetyCats indoors; window collision decals on large panes

Chicks are not fed nectar. They are fed small insects and spiders, which is why an insecticide programme in the garden is quietly one of the worst things for nesting success — it removes the protein supply and the silk supplier at the same time.

Nesting material, done safely

Natural plant down only:

  • Cattail fluff, cinnamon fern wool, pussy willow catkins
  • Thistle and dandelion seed down
  • Clematis seed heads

Never put out lint, string or treated fur

Dryer lint soaks up water, collapses and rots — it looks soft and makes a lethal nest. Cut string, yarn and long hair are entanglement hazards that cost nestlings and adults their legs. Pet fur treated with flea or tick products carries insecticide directly into a nest. Plant down is the only material worth offering.

Feeders during nesting

Keep them up, and keep them honest. A nesting female is burning an extraordinary amount of energy.

  • Four parts water to one part plain white sugar. Nothing else.
  • No red dye, no honey, no brown sugar, no artificial sweetener.
  • Change it every two days in hot weather, every three to four when cool. Fermented nectar and black mould in the ports are genuinely dangerous.
  • Clean with hot water and a brush; skip the detergent residue.
  • Several small feeders spread apart beats one large one — hummingbirds are territorial, and a single dominant bird will guard one feeder against everything else in the garden.

Common questions

Do hummingbirds use birdhouses?

No. Hummingbirds are not cavity nesters, so a box with a hole in it is of no interest to them no matter how it is sized or sited. They build an open cup nest on a thin horizontal or slightly downward-sloping branch, usually 10 to 40 feet up, and they will not enter an enclosed space to nest. Any product sold as a hummingbird house is decorative — the ones that occasionally get used are open platforms, and even those see very low uptake.

Where do hummingbirds actually nest?

On a slender branch, typically 10 to 40 feet above the ground, often overhung by a larger branch or leaf that shelters the nest from rain and hides it from above. The nest is a tiny open cup, about the size of a walnut half or a large thimble, built from plant down and soft fibres and bound together with spider silk. The silk lets the cup stretch as the chicks grow. The outside is camouflaged with lichen and flakes of bark.

How do I attract hummingbirds to nest in my yard?

Provide nesting material, cover and food rather than housing. Leave spider webs alone, since the silk is structural to the nest. Plant or keep native shrubs and small trees with thin, forked branches. Grow nesting-material plants such as cinnamon fern, pussy willow, thistle and clematis whose seed heads supply down. Keep nectar flowering across the whole season and clean feeders properly. Stop using pesticides, because chicks are fed insects and spiders, not nectar.

Can I put out nesting material for hummingbirds?

Only the right kind. Natural plant down works — cattail fluff, cinnamon fern wool, pussy willow catkins, thistle down and dandelion seed. Never put out dryer lint, which holds water and disintegrates, and never pet fur that has been treated with flea products. Cut string, yarn and hair are all entanglement hazards for a bird this small. The most useful single thing is to stop clearing spider webs from around the garden.

What do hummingbird nests look like?

Like a small knot or bump on a branch rather than a bird's nest. The cup is roughly 1.5 inches across and an inch deep, camouflaged on the outside with lichen and bark flakes held on by spider silk, so it reads as part of the tree. Most people who have hosted nesting hummingbirds never find the nest. The eggs are about the size of a coffee bean or a small jelly bean.

Should I take down my feeders when hummingbirds are nesting?

No — keep them up and keep them clean. A nesting female needs a huge amount of energy, and a reliable feeder near a nest site helps her rather than replacing natural food. What matters is maintenance: a plain four-to-one water and white sugar solution, no red dye, no honey, and changing it every two days in hot weather or the sugar ferments and grows mould that can kill the birds.

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