We also have a couple of feeders. I'm always amazed when I see the pictures of the feeders advertising their product, and it shows lots of them buzzing about it, like this: I've also only ever seen one at it at a time. Maybe it's time elapsed photography... Yes, only do WHITE sugar and water, never honey. If the feeder has something red on it, you don't really need to add food coloring... especially once you're established. It gets so hot here, the food only is good for about 4 days at a time. I always make it fresh each time I put it out. Unlike you folks, I don't boil it, but I do use the HOT water from my spigot (the instant 'hot' that is hot enough to make tea), then cool it before I put it out. Here in northern California I have hummingbirds visiting the feeder all year round. There's fewer in the winter, but they're still here. Once you're established with the hummers, you should not quit putting out nectar until you've had a 2-week period without any hummers (to be sure they've left). Otherwise you risk taking away a food source they depend on. Those who don't see too many at the feeder, make sure your nectar is not being left in the sun and getting hot. They don't like hot nectar, and hot nectar spoils faster. I have my primary feeder right by the glass sliding door under the porch overhang on my porch. In the summertime, the porch is like a little hummer airport with all the buzzing. I can be right underneath it watering my plants, and hear them buzzing overhead. Here's one feeder I use... it also has an ant moat. You don't need the yellow flowers, they are actually not preferred because they will attract yellow jackets if you have them in your area, so no big loss if you get rid of them or use a feeder without them like this one. This one is the easiest to clean since the whole top pops right off. Here's the other feeder I use, which is actually more popular. It's a little tricky to clean, but you can sweep the 'flat edge' of the bottle (not visible) by the input side with your finger.
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The food in our feeders only lasts for a day or too. The thirsty little buggers drink it pretty quickly, so we don't have to worry about changing it. Tom
Hummingbirds are such wonderful little creatures. I was watching a documentary (BBC: The Life of Birds) today and in it was a segment on Jesse Hendrix and his hummingbird haven. I thought you guys might be interested in the newpaper article about him. "On this May afternoon, a steady stream of hungry hummingbirds flit around the windows of Hendrix's porch, perching briefly to feed before zooming back into the sky. The 78-year-old retired schoolteacher has 29 feeders scattered in the trees around his house right now, but when the busy season comes later this summer, he'll put out 150 feeders every day. The job will keep him busy all day long, beginning as early as 4 a.m., because the birds expect their breakfast by 5:30. Hendrix scoops sugar from a one of four big, plastic bins into containers of warm water to make his mix. He even color-codes the food, so he can see whether the feeders are empty and track the age of the food. During a three-week peak in late August and early September, Hendrix will feed between 10,000 and 12,000 birds daily, based on the amount of sugar water he puts out. He carefully tracks how much food he puts out each day; UA researchers estimate that each bird consumes 5.16 grams of sugar water. Many of the birds stop by Hendrix's property as they travel a migratory path. Some will fly as far north as Alaska and as far south as Guadalajara." Interestingly he is quoted on a seperate webpage as using bleach water to clean the feeders. HERE I had one nest above my front doorway arch a few years ago. The young made the cutest noises. Sadly I had to move and have not been back to ask if the little hummers came back. I only live 1-mile down the road so maybe if I set up some feeders......
I've seen feeders advertising that they can hold a quart of nectar. What a waste. If you do the sugar water (no dye please) it will last a few days but should be changed every few days. Throw it out if it should get cloudy (this will happen fast if your feeder is in the sun) and clean the feeder very well if you see any signs of mold. I didn't know the banana peel/ fruit fly trick. I've been putting my peels in my wormtopia. I like that middle feeder above. It's red, no yellow. It has perches. And knowing the top comes off for cleaning is great. I am so tired of narrow-necked bottles. That's why I abandoned the egg shaped one on the bottom. Once you unscrew it, it's just like a bottle, only worse to clean.
Wow, that is some dedication!!!!!!! Hard to imagine, but I think if this one human were to perish or stop his operation, conceivably it would impact hummingbird populations detrimentally in all of North America.
Funny you mention that. While watching the documentary I was overjoyed knowing that this man was running such an operation, yet the "ecologist" in me was wondering if he was having a detrimental effect on any local wildflower species because the birds are feeding at his place instead of working as pollinators for plants or trees. I then started to think about what effects his eventual demise will have on these populations. A: Is he supporting a population larger than would normally be possible for each species? If so his death would likely bring a population crash. B: Are the natural feeding spots declining due to a lack of pollination so that when he "retires" there will not be enough food to support the original population size (before he started feeding). The outcome would be a reduction in population. C: Is the extra food they receive from Mr. Hendrix compensating for a reduction in natural habitat due to human development both local and throughout their migratory range? The net effect is a wash. These species are artificial supported by humans yet human degraded their habitat which used to support them. I know I'm totally overthinking this but it will eventually be my job to consider all angles so I guess I'll chalk it up to practice. lol
What makes you say that? At least once a month, clean the feeder thoroughly with a solution of 1/4 cup bleach to one gallon of water. Soak the feeder in this solution for one hour, then clean with a bottle brush. Rinse well with running water and refill. Any remaining traces of bleach will be neutralized by reacting with the fresh syrup, and there's no need to air dry before refilling. Bleach is both safe and very effective. Hummingbird Feeders I have two. One on duty feeding the little critters, and the other going through a cleaning. When it comes time to change the feeders, the hummers don't have to wait for me to clean and fill the same feeder. Having two also came in handy when I accidentally broke one. The hummers didn't have to go hungry waiting for me to buy a replacement.
Here's a page with a nice recipe for hummingbird nectar. No dye. And here's one about choosing a hummingbird feeder. I clean mine often so I don't have to use bleach or soap. I avoid bleach because I can never be sure I've rinsed it all out. I wouldn't want to poison the little guys. So if I can no longer clean it thoroughly to my satisfaction with very mild, soapy water, I'll discard it. I find if I change the nectar frequently enough and give it a good cleaning when I do, I don't need to use harsh chemicals. The biggest problem I have is with those plastic cages to keep the bees off of the spouts. You can't clean them and eventually they have to be discarded when the mold grows so I'm looking for a feeder that doesn't have the rubber stopper and glass tube.That middle design above looks good.
That is quite different than just making a blanket statement of "do not use bleach." Using diluted bleach for sanitizing the feeders do hummers far greater good than any potential harm caused by any minute residue the average schmuck would leave in the feeder. If you are using tap water, you are leaving behind minute chlorine bleach residue. (just please tell me you aren't using denatured water or a combination of rain water and morning dew drops from rose pedals. )
An hour drying in the sun would neutralize any remaining bleach, especially if you do a good rinse. Bleach is just dilute sodium hypochlorite; the chlorine escapes pretty fast once the sun gets to it. Tom
Saw my first hummer of the season this evening. Here's a picture I took through my patio door a couple years ago. The feeder hangs just outside the sliding doors.
Woah, this thread took off since the last time I looked. I think I might have to go buy a feeder now! I have a feeling that it would be nice to have a feeder near the garden to help with pest control, but the garden gets full sun most of the day. The alternative spots without direct sun would be either on or near a tree about 20-30 ft from the garden with a line-of-sight to the garden, or under the eaves on the opposite side of the house, but at least with a direct line-of-sight to a window so I could see them. So, does anyone have an idea of what would be the best spot? If hummingbirds are really good at helping with pests in the garden, would that be enough of a reason to put the feeder in direct sun?
