Hummingbirds

I make my hummingbird nectar from NutraSweet, just to make sure our neighborhood hummingbirds stay trim and sexy looking.

Tom

 

Tom

Maybe I should try that recipie myself. At this point I'll try almost anything to get rid of my fat nice person

jay

 

CarolinaJim,

Thanks for that information. Is it past the time for attracting Hummingbirds yet?

ZC1

 

I think you might have better results with less sugar, including substitutes. Try riding your bike to the hobby farm on weekends. That should help.

 

They are pretty interesting animals, we have about 3 feeders that are on our back deck and during the summer all you can hear is a buzzing sound. I find it interesting that they can only eat at the feeder one at a time, and sometimes they will chase each other.

 

Hummers in my area do not know the meaning of "share".
Over the years, I've noticed that it is usually the females that stand guard and run other hummingbirds off their feeders.
If you walk up to the feeder very slowly, the birds do not seem afraid, and will fly quite close to you.

 

I bought a feeder, but not very many visit hummingbirds visit it (at least when I am watching). I didn't want to feed them commercial nectar (which has dyes and all). So I dissolved sugar and water. May be I should try something else. Perhaps something colorful. Anyone tried honey and water?

 

I house-sit for a couple who are avid birders, and they have several hummingbird feeders. They use sugar in water but they heat the mixture first, they always leave some for me so I've never had to make it. Hummingbirds are very cool little critters; I was at the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson a couple of years ago; they have a hummingbird habitat that you could walk through, and one of the birds was very interested in the orange hood of my jacket and landed on me! Took off when it realized it couldn't eat my jacket but it was very neat.

 

MichGal,
The sugar will dissolve better in warm/hot water.
A couple of drops of red food dye (harmless) will attract their attention.

 

The red plastic on our feeders is more than enough red to get the hummers' attention. Oddly it works as well for our oriels too. Many oriels nest in our trees. At one time they only migrated through our area, but now stay for the summer. Obviously they have adapted to hummingbird feeders. Some will feed from our orange oriel feeder, but many prefer the red hummingbird feeder. They always announce themselves when landing to feed, at which point any hummers scatter. I try to tell them that there is plenty for everyone, but they just don't listen.

We use a simple sugar solution. We boil the water to kill any bacteria and spores, then dissolve the sugar in the hot water. Extra "nectar" is kept in the refrigerator to retard the growth of nasty things.

Right now a big, bright orange male oriel is feeding from the hummingbird feeder. Okay, now he just jumped over to the oriel feeder - I suppose he has to try all of the "flowers". He's gone, now a female is on the oriel feeder.

Did you ever notice with hummingbirds how they never fly straight to their nests? They always go up to a perch and sit, then move off. Sometimes they make several misleading moves before heading to their nest. Clever little guys.

Tom

 

You don't feed them NutraSweet because it's good for them. :evil:

Another good technique is to put a feeder just outside your window for about a week. After that you move it just inside your window. ound:

Tom

 

NONONONONONO!

Very BAD for Hummingbirds.

Please use either the prepackaged hummingbird nectar you can buy or boil sugar water.

Also keep their feeders very clean. Only clean with water. Do not use bleach.

Artificial sweeteners can kills hummingbirds.

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Tom's in a squirrelly mood today. At least on this thread.

 

Or maybe the local hummingbirds made a candy cane made out of spiderwebs and lichen and hung it outside his window.

 

That was my intention. Didn't you notice my evil grin:

Hummingbirds are great for stuffing. While they are very small, they fit perfectly inside a piping plover, which in turn stuffs into a spotted owl. The whole ensemble is much like a small turducken of Thanksgiving football fame. Yum, my mouth waters just thinking about it.

Tom

 

Why, in the 21st century, have we still not developed the perfect hummingbird feeder?

One that the hummers will use, but will repell bees and ants. One that is easy to clean. I am tired of narrow-necked bottles and bee screens that can never be scrubbed really clean. A kitchen full of various brushes and there is still a spot you can't quite get.

In the end, I think my best plan is to plant flowers they like, rather than giving them a free handout.

 

we have a feeder but haven't had any visitors here. very few at our last place, but the place before that was a very popular spot. i felt bad when we moved, that they'd have to go elsewhere.

we also had a lot of them at the apartment in the woods, to the point where it was downright noisy!