How To Feed Hummingbirds: Easy Hummingbird Food Recipe

Feeding hummingbirds is fun and simple to do. Once the hummingbirds find your feeders their aerial antics will provide hours of enjoyment.

In this article, you will find collection of information, tips and tricks for attracting and feeding hummingbirds. Buying commercial hummingbird nectar can be expensive, save money by making your hummingbird nectar using the easy Hummingbird food recipe below.

You should be warned before you proceed feeding and watching hummingbirds is a very addicting activity. You may soon find every available space in your garden taken up by a hummingbird feeders and your refrigerator full of Hummingbird Food.

Image Courtesy Of:
Ben Wilson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image Courtesy Of: likeaduck on Flickr

1. Put your Hummingbird food out early. Check the books for the average arrival dates for hummingbirds in your area. By placing your feeders out 5 to 10 days in advance, the early arrivals will be more likely to find your feeders and take up residence in your garden.
2. Avoid territorial disputes. In the eastern United States, where the hummingbird population is less dense, hummingbirds can be very territorial, so place your Hummingbird food in such a way that one bully can't guard all of the feeders. (This is not so critical in the western part of the U.S., where the sheer numbers of hummingbirds prevent one dominant bird from driving all of the others away.)
3. Keep your hummingbird nectar fresh. The hummingbird food will need to be replaced every 3 to 5 days, or more often in warm weather. Check daily and if the nectar begins to look cloudy replace it. A cloudy appearance means that the nectar is beginning to ferment and may become toxic to your hummingbirds.
4. Keep it clean. Hummingbirds are sticklers for good housekeeping, so keep your feeders clean or they won't use them. It is a good idea to give your hummingbird feeders a good washing every time you take them down to add more food. A simple wash in warm mildly soapy water and a good rinse will be fine.
5. Avoid red food coloring. While no conclusive studies have taken place, preliminary test indicate that the red dye in food coloring may be harmful to hummingbirds. I encourage you to err on the side of caution. Choosing feeders with red incorporated in the design will attract hummingbirds and eliminate the need add artificial coloring to the Hummingbird's food.
6. Plant flowers and shrubs hummingbirds love. When given a choice hummingbird prefer flower nectar over all substitutes. Plant some flowers that hummingbirds find attractive, to help insure that they maintain residence in your garden and continue to visit your feeders.
7. Leave your feeder up late. You will notice a decrease in visits to your feeder as the hummingbirds begin their winter migration. Leaving your feeders up for an extra week or two, can help provide a much need energy boost for any hummingbirds passing through on the way to their wintering grounds.

Having the right tools at hand will save you time, energy, and frustration. This inexpensive contains 3 brushes specially designed to let you quickly and easily clean your Hummingbird feeder's bottle, tubes and nectar nozzles.

Image Courtesy Of: Mr. T in DC, on Flickr

There are many package nectar mixes available on the market today, but hummingbird nectar is very simple and inexpensive to make yourself. The nectar is simply a sugar solution consisting of 4 parts water and 1 part sugar.

Ok, if you're someone that finds boiling water a challenge hummingbird nectar concentrate is an option. If I were to go the concentrate route for hummingbird nectar this would be my choice. I like the fact that it contains no artificial food coloring.

Before choosing to go with nectar concentrate, you may wish to consider the number of hummingbirds you are likely to be feeding. A member of my family has a cabin in Northern Arizona, where an astounding number of hummingbirds visit their feeders consuming 2+ gallons of nectar per day. That would be more than 4 bottles of nectar concentrate per day, I will leave the cost benefit analysis to you.

When choosing a hummingbird feeder I prefer glass over plastic or polycarbonate. To me glass feeders just look better, feel better, and are more durable. This is purely a personal preference, as the hummingbirds can't tell the difference.

A Good Hummingbird Feeder Should:

• Be easy to put up and take down.
• Be easy to clean
• Have plenty of red incorporated into the design. (This eliminates the perceived need to add red food coloring to your hummingbird nectar.)

These simple inexpensive hummingbird feeding tubes allow you to turn just about any container into a hummingbird feeder. Simply plug the stopper into any container and decorate to suit your own style. Make a dozen feeders for the price of one.

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