How to Make Hummingbird Tubes
If you're a gardener, outdoor enthusiast, animal lover or just someone who'd like to have hummingbirds around now and again, a hummingbird feeder might be just the thing for you. Unfortunately, a new set of feeder tubes can be expensive. And why buy someone else's design when you can make your own? You can build a set of cheap feeder tubes sure to keep your local hummingbirds friends around. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hummingbird nectar
- Clear plastic piping or test tubes
- Red anti-insect caps
- Metal wire hanger
Instructions
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Make enough hummingbird nectar (1 part sugar to 4 parts water) to fill as many tubes as you plan to use. Do not add anything artificial (food coloring, flavors, etc) to the nectar, and be sure to keep it as cool as possible (without freezing).
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Fill your piping or test tubes to the brim with hummingbird nectar and cap quickly with an anti-insect cap. Invert immediately to avoid getting air inside the feeding tube, and keep it that way as much as possible. The cap will have a small hole punctured in it already, large enough for a hummingbird to get nectar but too small for most insects to get inside.
Test-tube-size feeding tubes are much easier to manage than the somewhat better-known soda bottles, as they require less cleaning and maintenance.
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3
Unwrap a wire coat hanger until it's one long, straight, flexible piece of metal. Bend it around a broom handle or something else roughly the size of your tubes and cylindrical until you have a spiral capable of securely holding your tube in place.
Angle the spiral upward slightly so that the nectar inside the feeder tube will flow continually downward toward the cap. Wrap the other end of the wire hanger around a tree branch, and your feeder will always be ready to nourish whatever hummingbirds come its way.
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Tips & Warnings
If you place a flower-like visual display around the entrance to the feeder tube, your feeder will be even more attractive. You can paint or otherwise decorate your tubes to look like flowers to attract more hummingbirds.
Do not add artificial sweeteners to your hummingbird nectar. Hummingbirds need to drink several times their body weight in sugar per day, and artificial sweeteners are not only nutritionally useless but can be dangerous to these fragile creatures.
