| Hummingbirds are wonderfully unique birds to watch. | | | | another story. |
| They flutter, hover, dodge, dart and just simply seem | | | | Red is very attractive to hummingbirds, so your feeder |
| to play. However, all that moving around burns a | | | | should have some red in it. Please do not use red food |
| tremendous amount of energy and they need to feed | | | | coloring in your homemade food. To color a sugar |
| frequently. They literally fly to eat and eat to fly! | | | | mixture, find a bird friendly coloring at your local birding |
| What is the hummingbird feeder for? Most people | | | | store. |
| don't realize that the main food of the hummingbird is | | | | Keeping desirable flowers in your garden near the |
| insects, but they need the sugar rich nectar to provide | | | | feeder is also helpful in getting those little guys to |
| them the energy to search for the insects, that is | | | | frequent your feeders. Flowering plants like Columbine, |
| where we humans come in. Hummingbird feeders are | | | | Begonias and Holly Hocks, as well as Fuchsias, Coral |
| usually filled with a mixture of 4 parts water to one | | | | Bells and Lantana will definitely increase your chances. |
| part sugar. This mixture should be boiled to ensure all | | | | Impatiens, Penstemen, and Petunias along with |
| impurities are killed. Any excess can be refrigerated | | | | Geraniums and Flowering Tobacco are also favorites |
| until needed. The mixture should be changed at least | | | | of hummingbirds. There are many other types of |
| once a week and more frequently in very warm | | | | flowers hummingbirds will frequent. |
| weather. In addition to changing the nectar, the feeder | | | | Be careful putting multiple feeders too close together! |
| should be cleaned regularly. Since this is a sugar | | | | Hummingbirds are very territorial and will defend their |
| mixture, you are sure to attract many other nuisances | | | | "turf", sometimes to the death. Another safety tip is to |
| you may not want to feed, such as bees, ants, and | | | | keep your feeders several feet away from windows |
| even bats. | | | | and dense cover, like large bushes. If you are having |
| All sugars are not created equal, at least that is what | | | | problems with hummingbirds (or any other kind) running |
| the hummingbirds say. When given the choice, | | | | into your windows, take a look from their perspective |
| hummingbirds prefer artificial nectar made from cane | | | | and see if you can see a reflection of the sky, or |
| sugar rather than beet sugars. If you are not attracting | | | | another window on the other side of the house that |
| them, check and make sure the sugar you are using is | | | | looks like a passageway. Large bushes can hide |
| cane. | | | | predators, like your neighbors cat, that may try and |
| Ever have a problem with your feeder being full at | | | | attack the birds. |
| night when you go to bed, but empty in the morning? | | | | The best time to start putting out feeders is when the |
| You may think you have a sneaky neighbor taking all | | | | weather starts to warm up. Yes, this is a little vague, |
| your nectar, but it is most likely due to bats. Bats also | | | | but hey, these guys aren't on a schedule. Since they |
| love the sweet nectar and can drain your feeders | | | | are migratory birds, you will have a good chance of |
| overnight. One strategy to keep bats out is to find bee | | | | getting them to hang around if you get your food out |
| covers for your feeder ports. The bat tongue is much | | | | early, while they are migrating through the area. |
| larger and cannot get through the bee covers. Then | | | | I hope you are able to enjoy this little wonders for a |
| again, maybe you want to feed the bats also, they eat | | | | long time to come, they truly are wonderous birds. |
| huge amounts of insects every night, however, that's | | | | |