How to Prepare Hummingbird Food

Hummingbirds will take advantage of special feeders.

Hummingbirds flap their wings 90 beats per second when hovering, says Terry Dunn in a 2002 edition of the Smithsonian Zoogoer. It takes a lot of nectar to keep up that energy, and putting out a hummingbird feeder will not help out the bird and attract them to your home. Once a hummingbird finds a source of food like that it will fight with other hummingbirds to keep them away from it. The feeders need to be changed every two or two days to keep the nectar from spoiling.

Things You'll Need

• Sugar

Instructions

1. Place a pot on the stove burner. Add 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar for every cup of water you put in the pot. Turn the stove to medium-high.

2. Boil and stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves completely. Let it cool to room temperature.

3. Pour the mixture into the hummingbird feeder. Hang it in a location away from noisy or heavily trafficked areas. It can be moved closer as the hummingbirds get used to you.

Tips & Warnings

• Commercial hummingbird food is available. Some of it comes in concentrate. Just add water before putting it into the feeder.

• Hummingbirds are attracted to red, which is why most feeders are red and many people have used red food dye in their hummingbird nectar. However, red dye is dangerous to the birds and should not be used.

• Do not leave the mixture as it boils. The sugar may burn or the water may bubble over.

• Avoid using feeders with plastic yellow bee guards as those actually attract bees.

References

• Smithsonian National Zoological Park: Zoogoer: Hummingbirds Frantic and Fascinating
• Cornell University: Feeding Hummingbirds
• University of Maine Cooperative Extension:Habitats: A Fact Sheet Series on Managing Lands for Wildlife
• ArgiLife Extension: The Pollinators: Hummingbirds
• Oregon State University: Attract hummingbirds to Your Garden