how to start feeding hummingbirds

Seven things we need to know to start feeding hummingbirds.

• What do hummingbirds eat?
  
• What are the best hummingbird feeders?
• What is the hummingbird food recipe?
• How do we make food for hummingbirds?
• Where do we put the feeders?
• When do we start and stop feeding the hummingbirds?
• What about pests or hummingbirds fighting at the feeders?
  

Enjoying God's gift of amazing hummingbirds

feeding hummingbirds

Hummingbirds have voracious appetites. It's a joy seeing these tiny creatures coming to our porch, windows and gardens.

These amazing little birds have an extremely fast metabolism, so they require a lot of food.

They are always looking for more food. During their waking hours, they eat approximately every ten to fifteen minutes.

They may visit more than a thousand flowers a day looking for food. If there are not enough flowers, they appreciate our feeders.

1. What do hummingbirds eat?

Hummingbirds' natural food is flower nectar. So plant and grow some of the hummingbird's favorite flowers.

Some types of hummingbirds eat other things. The Ruby-throated and Rufous Hummingbirds have been seen eating tree sap from the holes made by sapsuckers.

Sometimes the hummers also eat pollen.

Do hummingbirds eat bugs?

Yes, hummingbirds supplement their diet with small insects and spiders for protein and other nutrients.

Hummingbirds are adept at catching flying insects in mid-air. They also forage on plants and tree bark for insects.

Mother hummingbirds feed their babies regurgitated insects and spiders mixed with flower nectar.

The babies grow on this protein mix for about three weeks and then they take off on their own.

2. What are the best hummingbird feeders?

Definitely get feeders with red on them. Red is great for attracting hummingbirds!

Glass or plastic feeders both work. The glass feeders are more durable. Plastic feeders work just, but they may warp after a period of time.

Hummingbirds spend about 80 percent of their time perching. Feeders with perches allow the hummingbirds to sit down while they are eating and stay at the feeder longer.

Hummingbirds like to sit while they are eating.

• Look for feeders with perches, so the hummers can sit to eat.
• Select feeder with bee guards to keep insects and other birds out.
• Get a feeder that will be easy to take apart and clean.
  

A small feeder is fine for starting out. After you are getting a lot of hummers, you will want to change to a larger feeder. Then you won't have to fill the feeder so often.

Place the hummingbird feeders where they can be seen out a window or viewed from a deck or patio. Watching is the joy of feeding hummingbirds.

A special treat are feeders that attach to a window with suction cups. They give us close-up views of the hummers.

3. What is the hummingbird food recipe?

Four cups water + one cup white sugar
Do not use brown sugar.

The sugar content of the hummingbird’s favorite flowers is approximately twenty-five percent. So that gives us the perfect proportions for feeding hummingbirds.

4. How Do We Make Food for Hummingbirds?

Mix the sugar into boiling water to kill anything that shouldn't be there.

Cool the hummingbird feeder food and then put it in a clean feeder. Extra food may be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

5. Where do we put hummingbird feeders?

If at all possible, place the feeder in the shade. The food will stay cooler and last longer, than in the hot sun.

Hang the feeder between 3 to 7 feet off the ground.

The line-up for the feeder.

Good wisdom for attracting hummingbirds is to place the feeder near the flowers the hummingbirds are visiting.

Also, we may put feeders in areas where we see them perching.

6. When do we start and stop feeding hummingbirds?

Put the feeders up in the spring. It's usually April in most areas, farther north it may be a bit later.

Keep the feeders up late, so the migrating hummingbirds will be able to find food on their trip south.

Don't stop feeding until we have not seen one hummingbird for at least 2 weeks.

This would normally be by the end of September. In Florida, they may still be around the first part of October.

feeding hummingbirds in the winter

Some parts of California, Arizona and Texas have hummingbirds all year.

Feeding hummingbirds in those areas takes a commitment to maintain the hummingbird's food all year.

Feeding hummingbirds in the snow!

My sister in California gets lots of hummingbirds at her house.

One winter the snow caught a bunch of hummers at her house. They stayed all winter. She sent me this photo of her hummingbirds coming to the feeder in the snow.

What an amazing photo!

She would bring the feeders in after dark to keep the hummingbird food from freezing. And put them out again before daylight.

Sometimes on cold days she would have to replace a frozen feeder with thawed hummingbird food from the house.

7. pests or hummers fighting at the feeder

Bees and wasps are eating the hummingbird food!

Get a feeder with bee guards. Or use a flying saucer shaped feeder.

When you feed the hummingbirds, only fill the feeder partially full so the insects can’t reach the food.

Only fill the feeder part way full.

Ants are getting into the food!

The ants are crawling down the wire that holds the feeder and getting in the hummingbird food. Purchase or make a small water container to hang above the feeder.

Then run the feeder wire through the water container. The ants won’t go through the water.

Are there hummingbirds fighting at the feeder?

Hummingbirds are very territorial. They may chase other hummers away to keep them from eating out of ‘their’ feeder.

So when we feed the hummingbirds, hang another feeder in a different spot, out of view.

The bully can only guard one feeder. It works because he can't be in two places at once.

Enjoy feeding the awesome gift of hummingbirds!