Hummingbirds

I just pulled this off the net:

Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

1 part sugar/4 parts water

Boil the water first, then measure and add sugar, at the rate of 1/4 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water.

Let cool and store excess in refrigerator until ready to use.

Do not add food coloring, honey (which ferments), or artificial sweetener, which has no nutritional value.

You will need to clean your feeder about once a week. According to the National Audubon Society, this should be done by rinsing with one part white vinegar to four parts water. If the feeder is dirty, try adding a few grains of dry rice to the vinegar solution to help scrub it clean. Follow the vinegar wash by rinsing three times with clear, warm water before refilling with sugar solution.

-- I plant trees not to admire but for those that come after me...

how wonderful to have them right by your window!

That recipe is the typical one that I’ve heard about.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

and its the one i use for my feeders, honey will harm the humms so will the artifiial dye in store mixtures….i make a 4 gallon jug and it lasts al ong long time…..hummingb are very agressive towards each other so i use 2 feeders far away from each other, they are a joy to watch….

-- south shore montreal, zone 5a, whish it was 9

Thanks so much for all this Hummingbird info … I want to get a few feeders for the first time this year. Looking forward to seeing “my” own hummers this year!!! :-)

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" -- Royal Oak, MI - Zone 5

Dawn just follow Kindlingmakers instructions and you can’t go wrong.
Your gonna love em GramT. Mine are coming quite frequently now. We got 3 feeders up now.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

Thank You for all of the wonderful comments and suggestions and a big thanks to Kindlingmaker for the recipe. I am eagerly awaiting my next visitor.

I’ve read in numerous sites, that boiling the water will remove the minerals that the hummers need. I use the same ratio of 4:1 but I just let the sugar disolve in the water overnight, in the fridge.

Hummers are going to fight no matter where you hang the feeders. They seem to love the red bee balm beside my deck and often the little 1 ounce bird puts the run on me

-- Central northish Ontario

Greenthumb- I got a kick out of your comment about that little bird ready to chase you down. I have had that experience too, in fact, just yesterday while I was out working in the flowers little Jenny Wren about ate me alive! I have a few whimsical birdhouses that hang here and there amongst the flowers and it seems she has made a home out of one of them.

Thank you for the info. on the boiled water. I just figured it would be much cheaper and easier to make my own nectar for them with 3 feeders.

Wrens…..........I have one male here, with three wives and he is one very, very busy fella and he doesnt ever stop singing.

-- Central northish Ontario

hahah too funny :)

We had a female sparrow that was “being bothered” by 3 males… in and out of the tree branches they flew. Oh what a ruckus!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan

I get cliff swallows here and they nest at the peaks of the stone walls on the house. When I cut the7 acres of grass, the swallows dive bomb around me, scoopping up the bugs, same for the tree swallows.

If I sit quietly by the pool, the swallows and bluebirds dive/fly across the surface of the pool scooping up water.

I used to have barn swallows but the house sparrows (not an indiginoius bird) destroyed the nests and kill the chicks…..and the barn swallows never came back. needless to say….the house sparrows magically dropped off the face of the planet.

After a long, painful, brutal winter….....spring is a kiss from heaven here.

-- Central northish Ontario

Great news, my little friend returned and brought one of his friends. It is official. ;0)

To Greenthumb: I can almost see the garden by your description. Thanks for sharing.