How to Feed a Baby Hummingbird

From time to time, a baby hummingbird may become abandoned by its mother and will require human intervention to survive. When this occurs, you may need to feed the bird before you take it to a wildlife rehabilitator, especially if the rehabilitation center is located more than an hour from your home. A mixture of sugar and water can keep the baby hydrated until you reach the rehabilitator. With gentle care and handling, you can keep a baby hummingbird alive before it receives professional help.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 tsp. sugar
• 4 tsp. water
• Eyedropper

How to Feed a Baby Hummingbird

1. Determine the age of the baby hummingbird. It's important to estimate the age of the bird, since this will help you decide how much food to give it. Newborn hummingbirds (one to nine days) are hairless and have black skin. Nestling hummingbirds (10 to 15 days) have "pin" feathers that resemble a porcupine's quills. Prefledging hummingbirds (16 to 21 days) have full feathers, short tail feathers and a beak less than a half-inch long.

2. Create a sugar water mixture. In a small bowl, mix a teaspoon of sugar and four teaspoons of water with a spoon. Then fill an eyedropper with the mixture.

3. Feed the hummingbird. For a nestling hummingbird, carefully place three drops of the sugar water into its mouth. If the bird's beak is shut, gently guide the beak into the tip of the eyedropper. Give a prefledging hummingbird five drops of the mixture. Again, you can guide its beak into the dropper itself if the beak is closed. If you have a newborn hummingbird, do not attempt to feed it and seek professional help immediately.

4. Give the hummingbird more food every 30 minutes. It may take some time before you are able to reach the rehabilitation center. Try to feed the baby bird every half-hour until you can get it professional care.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the baby hummingbird is actually abandoned before you try to feed it and seek help. If you find a baby hummingbird that has fallen from its nest, gently pick it up by its torso and place it back into its nest. Then watch the nest for an hour to see if the mother will return. Typically, mother hummingbirds feed their babies four to six times per hour. If the mother has not come back, then you should take the baby bird to a wildlife rehabilitation center.
• Do not feed the baby hummingbird the sugar-water mixture for more than 24 hours. It will harm the bird and may lead to serious problems.
• Although baby hummingbirds are cute, they need professional care and a specialized diet to survive. Do not try to raise these birds on your own.

References

• What to Do When You Find a Hummingbird
• Hummingbird First Aid
• Rescuing Baby Hummingbirds