How to Choose a Hummingbird Feeder

It's that time of the year again and I'm back to writing about one of my favorite subjects... Hummingbirds.  The following is a basic guide to selecting a hummingbird feeder.  I hope you enjoy it.

Are you considering the purchase of a new Hummingbird Feeder and are confused by the myriad of different design models available?  Read the following and make your decision a little bit less complicated.  You will see some of this information in my previous blog posts, but sometimes information is important and repetition is not necessarily a bad thing.

First... are you looking for a "Yard Ornament" or are you seriously looking for the best and most efficient Hummingbird Feeder?  Unfortunately, most of the choices available at your favorite retailer are aimed at the less informed and are little more than a yard ornament.  Yes, almost all of them will allow a hummingbird to get a drink of nectar, but most of them are poorly designed and actually ATTRACT insects instead of REPELLING them.  Read on for more information.

In the simplest of terms, Hummingbirds are attracted to RED, Insects (Bees, Wasps, etc.) are attracted to WHITE and YELLOW.  That is all you need to know.  If there are pretty flowers on the feeder that have either the color white or yellow incorporated into their design then you are looking at a veritable INSECT MAGNET.  A high-quality will not have either of these colors in it's design and construction.  A true hummingbird lover will stay away from feeders that have white and/or yellow on them.  The insects attracted by these colors will invariably cause problems that quite simply are detrimental to the health of your hummingbirds.

Does the feeder have a perch?  Sure, hummingbirds can hover and feed without a perch, but why make the beautiful hummingbirds work so hard for their food when their life is already a balancing act?  A quality hummingbird feeder will have a perch that allows the hummingbird to rest while drinking nectar.

How many feeding ports does the feeder have?  Feeders with only a few feeding ports cause more infighting among the hungry little hummers and, even though there is going to be some territorial squabbling anyway, why invite more problems for them?  We should be making life EASIER for them... not more DIFFICULT.  A well-designed feeder will have a MINIMUM of six feeding ports with eight to ten being more optimal.

Are the feeding ports "Bee-Proof"?  Many poorly designed hummingbirds have feeding ports that allow insects to simply climb down into the nectar.  Not good!  The insects invariably drown and pollute the nectar, turning it into a toxic solution that can and will cause sickness and even death to a hungry hummer.  There are "Bee Guards" that are available that will fit on some hummingbird feeders, but even these allow the insects to squeeze down part-way into the port.  Very few hummingbird feeders actually have ports that are designed to be "Bee and Wasp Proof."  That is a shame.

Regardless of how well the feeder is designed, there will always be the occasional small insect that will get into the nectar and the only way we can be sure to have healthy nectar is to change it regularly.   If you have a poorly designed hummingbird feeder you should consider changing the nectar EVERY DAY.  With a well-designed feeder you should change the nectar at least twice a week.  Of course, people that have a lot of hummers feeding in their yard don't have to worry so much about the nectar going bad because it is consumed very quickly by the hummers.

ANTS are a HUGE problem with hummingbird feeders.  Some feeders like the Hummzinger line of feeders from Aspect have a built-in ant moat and it is effective.  However... the built-in ant moat is down near the ports and even when I use this type of feeder I prefer to hang a separate ant MOAT above the feeder to keep the ants as far away from the nectar as possible.

Adding a red dome to keep the rain, sun, and falling debris off of the feeding ports is also a good idea.  An added bonus is that the red color of the dome will make the feeder much easier for traveling hummers to find your feeder and many of these may hang around and make your yard their new summer home.

NEVER use red food coloring in your hummingbird feeder.  Quite simply, red food coloring can cause health problems for your hummers.  Yes, some will say that this is not proven and that some red food colorings are not as bad as others.  I will simply say this.  It is NOT necessary to color the nectar to attract hummers, so why take a chance?  A hummingbird will find your well-designed red feeder without the nectar having to be colored red.  I always say that people who color the hummingbird nectar are doing for their own vanity and are not putting the health of the hummingbird as a first priority.  If you are not serious about the health of the hummingbirds you should not be feeding them. PERIOD!

How to make Hummingbird NECTAR...
Mix 4 parts WATER to 1 part Cane SUGAR.

I can go on and on and on about what to use and what not to use... about whether to boil or not to boil the nectar, and maybe I will in a subsequent blog, but it simply is not necessary to boil the nectar.  Doing so is fine, but is not absolutely necessary.

If the sugar you buy at the supermarket does not say CANE sugar on the label then it is most likely made from the sugar beet.  Sugar made from sugar beets is fine but experts say that they have found that, when given a choice, hummingbirds will choose the cane sugar nectar over the beet sugar nectar.  Either will work... I use Cane Sugar marketed by Domino.
NEVER use honey, confectioner's powdered sugar, or brown sugar to make your hummingbird nectar.  These are not good choices.  Keep it simple and just use white granulated sugar... preferably cane sugar.

Look at your Hummingbird Feeder as an investment into your happiness and for the health of the beautiful hummingbirds.  You wouldn't invest in anything that was poorly designed, inefficient, and basically a disposable commodity would you?  That is what most of the hummingbird feeders on the market today are.  They are nothing more than objects designed for profit to the distributor.  Be discriminative when you are choosing a feeder and don't waste your money on junk.  If you want to save some money on a nice feeder you can make it yourself.  You will need to purchase a good base for the feeder because this is the most difficult part to make, but you can make a nectar reservoir from a plastic pop bottle, an empty Nyquil bottle, or even an empty glass bottle if you have the right tools to drill through glass.  I enjoy making different types of feeders... my favorite is one I made using an empty "Orange Blast" spray cleaner bottle.  I made a nice red dome from a red plastic punch bowl and added a red ant moat and a good base for the feeder to make the Hummingbird Feeding Station.  That is a picture of it at the top of this page.  If you need any hummingbird supplies or if you have any hummingbird questions (and are too lazy to Google the answer...lol) give me a shout any time.

My favorite Hummingbird Feeder base is the one made by Best-1 with 8 Bee/Wasp-Proof feeder ports and a double-ringed concentric perch.  This base can be used with almost any threaded plastic or glass bottle and also can be purchased with their own glass bottle.  I usually have at least three different brands of feeders hanging in my yard and my hummers seem to like the Best-1 base the most.  As I mentioned earlier, Hummzinger is also a really good brand of feeder but their feeders do not allow the use of recycled bottles.

Enjoy your Hummers...
Arbuckle Bill
wsikes1@gmail.com

Getting Ready for the Ruby Throats

It is April and the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird northern migration is in full swing.  Although no new 2014 sightings have been recorded in West Virginia this year, several have been made in northern Virginia and it won't be long before we begin seeing the early arrivals.  I have seen Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds in my yard as early as April 1, but that was one of my regulars (Rube) and he was always one of the first to arrive.  Most of my hummers show up later in the month and some don't arrive until early in the month of May.  I want to be ready for them, especially the "early birds" because they will be fighting some chilly weather and will need some serious calories to get through the cold nights.
I have already put up a couple of feeders and am watching them closely.  I think it is a great idea to go ahead and put the feeders up BEFORE, rather than AFTER the first hummer is sighted, simply because I may miss a bird or two and they will go hungry if I am negligent.  There are very few insects and virtually no natural nectar available for food in my area in early April, therefore it is CRUCIAL that we get our feeders up early for them.  
In earlier blogs I have listed some "Do's and Don'ts" relative to feeding hummingbirds and you may or may not want to glimpse back and take a quick read.  For those of you who don't care to do the research right now, I am going to list a few things I do and/or don't do with my hummingbird feeders.
Here is a Short List:
1. Mix your nectar using 4 parts water to 1 part table sugar.  Bring it to a boil on the stove to kill any bacteria and to help make the nectar a viable solution.  Let it cool off before pouring it into the feeder.  I know... you already knew that... lol.  If you make your nectar any stronger that this 4:1 mixture you run the possibility of causing dehydration in your hummers. Hummingbirds love clean, clear nectar that is mixed 4:1 and that is the only recipe/formula you ever need to use. 
2. NEVER use HONEY in your feeder.  Honey will not provide the calories that the hummingbirds need to sustain life and could cause their death within a short time if they fill up on Honey Nectar.  Look it up on Google if you have any doubts about what I am telling you.
3. Never use FOOD COLORING in your nectar.  Red Food Coloring (especially #7) has been shown to cause cancer in some lab animals and the jury is still out on the #40 red food coloring.  Modern hummingbird feeders are red and there is simply no reason to color the nectar.  I know it is pretty, but why take a chance with the health of the hummingbird.  If you want more RED on your feeder simply add a red DOME or a red ANT MOAT, both of which are both colorful AND functional.  Please do not use red food coloring in your feeder.

In previous blogs I have discussed which colors attract bees, yellow jackets, and other insects.  Check it out if you are having a lot of bees and other insects on your feeder.  You might be surprised what you find out.

If you have any questions and would like to bounce it off of me, feel free to shoot me an email at wsikes1@gmail.com.