Hummingbird feeder tips

[Bill Dufour]

We have had a hummingbird feeder for years. Have to refill it about once a week. Every one says you have to warm the water sugar mix for it to dissolve. I have found I just stir it a few times and leave it overnight to dissolve at room temperature.
I have switched to morena sugar for two reasons. Slightly cheaper and I can see the level from across the yard since it is not water clear. I think brown sugar would cost more and not sure if they would like the taste or not. You are not supposed to add food color so it is hard to judge the level from a distance..
Bill D

[Mel Fulks]

The favorite of our Virginia “bumming hirds” is wild growing “jewel weed” . It might have more than one colloquial name ,and I don’t
remember the botanical name.

[Larry Frank]

Takes about two days to empty our feeders. I use the microwave to heat up the water to make sugar dissolve.

[Alex Zeller]

I just use hot water out of the tap. 10 seconds or so of stirring and it's dissolved. Ants are my biggest problem. My feeders have a moat that's filled with water to stop them but in less than a day it's full of dead ants so now the others can just walk across them.

[Steve Jenkins]

We had trouble with ants getting in ours. Went to Amazon and found “hummingbird feeder moat”. Put in some mineral oil and problem solved.

[Edward Weber]

Sugar and water brought to a boil kills anything that would want to grow.
The food coloring is a myth to remove money from consumers pockets.
I have been feeding the little ones at my house for the past 8 years winter and summer, they don't mind the clear nectar.
460780

[John K Jordan]

Sugar and water brought to a boil kills anything that would want to grow.
The food coloring is a myth to remove money from consumers pockets.
I have been feeding the little ones at my house for the past 8 years winter and summer, they don't mind the clear nectar.
460780

I agree with the boiling and the food coloring, although I generally add one drop of blue food coloring so I can see the levels from the house (three feeders here)

After seeing what accumulates in the bottom of a water heater I don't use water from it except for washing.

I also use the feeders with "ant moats", found at Home Depot.

I found it better to keep the feeders out of direct sun.

Another thing I do is put the feeders far apart, on the other sides of the house. This prevents one aggressive humming bird from hanging out close and chasing the other away.

JKJ

[Edward Weber]

They are territorial little things. They will swoop on in if they think their area is threatened.

[Andy Pedler]

Lots of good advice here...I'm an avid birder and have been feeding hummingbirds for years.

Don't use the food coloring in your nectar mix. There's no research about the dye's affect on hummingbirds, so scientifically I can't say that it harms the birds (and the suppliers aren't lying when they say that there's no proof that it hurts birds either...there's no science either way). However, the WHO recommends that people consume no more than 0.007mg/g of body weight of food coloring on a daily basis. A hummingbird that feeds only at a food-colored feeder will ingest 0.12mg/g of body weight from eating at the feeder. That's 17 times the concentration deemed allowable for people. Further, there are studies showing DNA damage in mice that consumed 0.01mg/g of body weight of food coloring.

Just mix 1 part sugar with 4 parts tap water and dissolve the sugar however you like. I mix mine on the stove and the sugar dissolves within a minute.

Keep your feeders clean. Refill and wash them out every week or two. Use a pipe cleaner to get that black gunk removed from the "flowers". It's mold and if a hummingbird consumes too much of it they can develop a condition where they suffocate.

I highly recommend the flatter profile dish shaped feeders. They're much easier to clean. The bottle types hold more nectar but cleaning them is a pain, and you want to refill them more often anyway.

If you have more feeders you'll attract more birds. But they're territorial little devils and a dominant male can chase others away from a single feeder. So put your feeders in a line, with 25-50 feet between the feeders. It makes it more difficult for a single bird to defend them all. If possible, put your feeders near shrubs or hedge where there's some perches and cover.

The ant moats are critical and putting some oil in the water helps slow evaporation. I fill the moat with water and then put a teaspoon of mineral oil or olive oil on top.

[Larry Frank]

I read an interesting fact. Each Hummingbird consumes 6,600-12,000 calories each day.

[michael langman]

My wife has been taking care of the hummingbirds for years now,noone else nearby does it. She has 10 -12 feeders she puts out and maintains every year, all over the yard.
She says we have over 100 hummingbirds and it is becoming harder each year to maintain the pace. Then there are the other birds she takes care of.
Will give the mineral oil a try as the ants can be a real nuisance. The bees also die by the hundreds in the feeders, though the new feeders we get now seem to help with them not getting in.
This is a great thread with good ideas.

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

I use to put out feeders, but all of a sudden, every morning they would be empty, I was told it might be bats.
I did not mind washing and filling them 3 times a week, but not daily if it was bats.
Anyone heard of this or have any insights as to what might have been happening?

[Warren Lake]

didnt read this and not up on the hummingbird thing but do photo them when I see them around.

Its well known for years that sugar is total crap and feeds things like cancer. There are documentaries on it. One at least on coverups from the past when they knew how bad it was and it kept selling it. same as some drug companies where it was bad news and the law suits were less than the sales. '

Is there not something better than sugar to give to hummingbirds? If its so bad for us I cant see it being great for them.

You dont need to cook and make them dinner.

But ive only heard negative stuff about sugar and cant see why it would be better for them than us

[John K Jordan]

...the WHO recommends that people consume no more than 0.007mg/g of body weight of food coloring on a daily basis. A hummingbird that feeds only at a food-colored feeder will ingest 0.12mg/g of body weight from eating at the feeder. That's 17 times the concentration deemed allowable for people. Further, there are studies showing DNA damage in mice that consumed 0.01mg/g of body weight of food coloring.
...

Some missing info in this statement.

- Is the 0.007mg/g of body weight in humans based on ingestion of food coloring at 100% concentration (as if someone drank from the bottle?) If not, what is the concentration in the studies driving the WHO recommendation?
- What is concentration in the hummingbird feed mix that results in ingestion of 0.12 mg/g of hummingbird body weight?

It would be useful to have the reference source for this recommendation and read the studies.

My quick search found this:
"... there is quite a bit of controversy regarding the safety of artificial food dyes. All of the artificial dyes that are currently used in food have gone through testing for toxicity in animal studies.
Regulatory agencies, like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), have concluded that the dyes do not pose significant health risks."
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/food-dyes#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

(Whatever "significant health risks" means.)

JKJ

[Peter Kelly]

My wife has been taking care of the hummingbirds for years now,noone else nearby does it. She has 10 -12 feeders she puts out and maintains every year, all over the yard.
She says we have over 100 hummingbirds and it is becoming harder each year to maintain the pace.That's amazing, I only see maybe 2-3 all season at my place in Northern Catskills. Have tried feeders but they only seem to attract bees from the neighbour's hives and the occasional bear.

[John K Jordan]

That's amazing, I only see maybe 2-3 all season at my place in Northern Catskills. Have tried feeders but they only seem to attract bees from the neighbour's hives and the occasional bear.

A friend in Colorado had zillions of humming birds. One nested close to the house so he put in a live nest web cam.

We see hummingbirds at our feeders every day. Sometimes we hear them zipping past our heads on the way to the feeders. If you watch carefully you might see them go from the feeder to a nearby branch in a tree and sit till they are ready for another sip. The territorial birds use this perch to keep an eye on the feeder too!

Our feeders do attract bees from our hives but not many and it doesn't stop the birds. I've watched hummingbirds chase bees away. Fortunately, a bear is rare within about 50 miles of us.

JKJ

[Peter Kelly]

I'm on the edge of protected NYC DEP Watershed and Catskill Park so loads of bears who absolutely love bird seed, suet, nectar and whatever else I've tried to put out around the house. If it were just the squirrels getting in to mix it'd be one thing but a bear will pretty well demolish any feeder within their reach. Still have plenty owls, woodpeckers, hawks and the occasional bald eagle.

[Alex Zeller]

A bear you say? This was a little over a month ago.

https://youtu.be/kBtV53aWTiw
At least with hummingbirds they are small. It's the wild turkeys. They eat everything that falls on the ground. I can even walk outside with some cracked corn and they are so competitive for food one or two will forget about their natural fear of humans and walk towards me.

[Peter Kelly]

I had the feeling I was being watched yesterday. Turns out this guy was intensely interested in me assembling a new window I'd been working on..

https://i.imgur.com/jPqtQRA.png?1

[michael langman]

That's amazing, I only see maybe 2-3 all season at my place in Northern Catskills. Have tried feeders but they only seem to attract bees from the neighbour's hives and the occasional bear.


We have been feeding the little hummers for over 25 years Peter. And as the word got around amongst the little birds, they just keep coming. I think it is like most with the animals, the more you feed them the more they produce. My wife is 75, and I tell her to not push herself so much, but she loves the birds.
If you just keep at it feeding them I think you will begin to see more of them.
The bears never bothered the sugar water, but they have taken down the other feeders alot these past ten years, because some neighbors thought it was cute to feed the bears and then film them for their facebook. I would take the feeders in at night during the summer, but the bears started showing up during the day so we had to stop with the feeders. Just broadcast some food on the ground for the regular birds.
We feed the crows and the bluejays purina dog food feom 50 pound bags that last about 1 month. At one time we had over 100 bluejays. Now we probably have 50-75 of them. I have become quite popular with the crow family and the bluejays.

[michael langman]

I use to put out feeders, but all of a sudden, every morning they would be empty, I was told it might be bats.
I did not mind washing and filling them 3 times a week, but not daily if it was bats.
Anyone heard of this or have any insights as to what might have been happening?


Paul, WE have numerous woodpeckers, downy and hairy, and the have become addicted to the sugar water for the hummingbirds. They can sit there and drink for a good half hour sometimes.
Also at night time maybe racoons could be getting into your feeders, but then you could have alot of hummingbirds and not know it.

[Mel Fulks]

[QUOTE=michael langman;3131244]Paul, WE have numerous woodpeckers, downy and hairy, and the have become addicted to the sugar water for the hummingbirds.
Thats one of the advantages of growing jewel weed, only the humming birds drink the nectar.

[Dave Zellers]

Thats one of the advantages of growing jewel weed, only the humming birds drink the nectar.

This (and so many other plants) is the best way to feed the hummingbirds as well as butterflies.

[michael langman]

[QUOTE=michael langman;3131244]Paul, WE have numerous woodpeckers, downy and hairy, and the have become addicted to the sugar water for the hummingbirds.
Thats one of the advantages of growing jewel weed, only the humming birds drink the nectar.


Mel, We have jewel weed growing along the road front yard and in the compost pile, and along the wood line behind the house., naturally. The hummers do like it. My wife has planted a big patch of bee balm and she has 3 other areas with wild flowers and many native things that have come up over the years, for the birds and bees.
I have watched the little hummers go from clover to clover in the yard. I keep the mower deck on a high setting to give the clover a chance to spread too.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

My wife has planted a big patch of bee balm and she has 3 other areas with wild flowers and many native things that have come up over the years, for the birds and bees.


At our old house, we had a patch of Jacob Kline Monarda (https://www.selectseeds.com/perennial-plants-2/bee_balm_jacob_cline_plants.aspx)(Bee Balm) that the hummingbirds LOVED. Even though we had a hummingbird feeder in the same area where a few birds would stop by, once that brilliant red Bee Balm really took off, we had dozens of hummingbirds show up for the flowers.

It is on my list to clean up an area at the new house and plant more Jacob Kline.

We had woodpeckers draining our feeder this year. Thought it was bats too, but it was the woodpeckers showing up on our cameras.

When it comes to feeders, they do have some nice new wide-mouth feeders that are easy to clean. I picked up a new one that has a perch all the way around and we love to see them sit and drink versus needing to fly the whole time. The best tip I have is make sure the feeder you buy is easy to open. My new one appeared easy while at the store, but that was with dry hands. Once your hands are damp from washing it, we found there was no easy way to grip the base and spin it open or close. I plan to glue a small handle on the bottom so I have something to hold on to and twist.

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

We do have a lot of woodpeckers here and I did see them sit and "party", but I cut off the perches so nothing could sit, forcing them to be flying.
It did stop the woodpeckers, at-least during the day, but a few weeks later is when they would be empty overnight.
I do not know what it was now draining the feeders, if woodpeckers found a way to sit on top and reach down, or if it was indeed bats, never caught anything.
I will have to see what flowering plants I can put here in the desert of southern AZ that would work. I will look at some of the plants mentioned here. I would rather use plants anyway.

[michael langman]

We will have to try the Jacobs Kline Mike. It sounds like a good tea to drink too. I don't know what our bee balm is but it likes to spread, and I make sure to fertilize it every year.
I don't know how many feeders we tried that were either difficult to clean or open. If someone was to come up with a good feeder design they would be a wealthy person.

Great idea about removing the perches to stop the woodpeckers from feasting Paul. I will have to tell Nancy, my better half about it. She makes all of the important decisions around here most days.

[Mike Ontko]

I haven't tried this myself because my feeders were right outside my window. But you could put a small plastic ball or other type of visible float inside the feeder that would be easy to spot from a distance.

[Stan Calow]

Thanks to this thread, I put out a feeder and have attracted a couple of hummingbirds. I've put them out several times over the years, but was unsuccessful at getting birds to use them.