Comments for Hummingbird Blog

Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by dtwladyhawk

dtwladyhawk — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:50:59 +0000

That depends on the size of the feeder and keep it out of the sun or you'll have drunken birds-sugar ferments into alcohol.
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Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by Sherri

Sherri — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:23:59 +0000

My dad has been feeding hummingbirds for years. His method:

1 cup of sugar, 4 cups of water (this is 1 part sugar, to 4 parts water, adjust more or less as you need.)

Mix the sugar and water in a large saucepan and heat on stove until just starting to boil, stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve. Use a clean wooden spoon that has never been used in grease. My dad uses a wooden spoon with a flattened end (better to scrape the bottom of the pan) and keeps it exclusively set aside for making hum feed.

Once the mixture starts to boil, remove from heat and let cool before putting in feeders. Store in refrigerator. Throw away and make new after a week if you have any left.

Red food coloring is not necessary. No, it is not toxic to the birds, just not needed. The hum feeders usually have red flowers on them, and other red parts. That is all the red you need to attract them.

Replace feed in feeders after two days with fresh feed.
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Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by KitKat

KitKat — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:10:59 +0000

Do not color the water. Get a hummingbird feeder and mix sugar and water.
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Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by ujd272

ujd272 — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:05:59 +0000

I use the 4 parts water:1 part sugar recipe. I read somewhere the you should bring the water just to a boil, add the sugar and let it boil for 2 minutes to boil away any chlorine, etc in the water. I then let it cool and fill the feeder.
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Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by savhomer

savhomer — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:43:59 +0000

4 to 1 water and sugar. my hummingbirds love it, its like crack for them.
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Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by mikeinportc

mikeinportc — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:01:59 +0000

You are better off having the right plants , than feeders . Keep that in mind, for the long – term . The food can go bad quickly in warm weather, and harm, or even kill the birds . Make sure to change it at least every other day, & wash the feeder.
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Comment on I found a pear shaped hummingbird nest – i verified it against other photos on line – hanging in my orange? by Shirotae

Shirotae — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:16:59 +0000

You can try here for more help with that.
http://wild-birds.suite101.com/article.cfm/hummingbird_nests
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Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by Billy Ray Valentine

Billy Ray Valentine — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:15:59 +0000

Don’t know about everyone else, but I would much rather have a nice sweet chocolate bar instead of a granola bar.. And so would your hummers. My recipe, which has been used for a number of years and seems to attract many visitors to my feeder, is to take 3 cups of water and heat up the water on the stove. Just before it begins to boil, turn it off. Then, get a large empty mayonnaise jar and pour in 1 cup of sugar. Take the hot water from the stove (after it has cooled off a little) and carefully pour it into the jar. Stir it with a spoon to desolve the sugar. Leave the lid off the jar and let it cool down completely for a couple of hrs. Then, screw the lid on and store it in the fridge and use it when you need to fill up the feeder. This way, you will have a fresh supply of mix available for about a week and a half. Make sure you clean the feeder every 3 or 4 days and refresh it with new mix from the fridge. No food coloring is needed as most feeders are already red in color and attract the hummers well. This is somewhat of a sweeter mixture, and something that the hummers love and need, to keep them going. Also, the location of the feeder is very important. You don’t want to have it hanging in the direct sunlight, as this will cause the mixture to heat up too much, causing bacteria to develop, and making the hummers sick. A shady location works the best for for the health of the hummers. They don’t like feeding on "hot" sugar water. Hope this answers your question…. And may your feeder bring you joy and happiness, as it has for me over the years.. Happy Humming!
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20 yrs…landscape field
2 yrs… tree & shrub technician
many yrs… feeding hummers in the landscape

Comment on I found a pear shaped hummingbird nest – i verified it against other photos on line – hanging in my orange? by Hondu

Hondu — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:39:59 +0000

The hanging type nests usually have a near round hole about midway up, so I would guess yours is damaged. But to guess from what would be speculation, although there are several other birds that prey on hummingbird nests and young. That is why the nests are usually so cleverly concealed. Hummingbirds rarely use the same nest twice. An exception to this is sometimes the hen raises more than one brood in a nesting season. She will then often times reuse the same nest.
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Comment on How to make up hummingbird "juice".? by hill bill y

hill bill y — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:35:59 +0000

4parts water 1 part sugar and use real hot water the sugar will dissolve better
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