There’s no need to purchase expensive bird food because you can create homemade hummingbird food with ease. These ingredients are widely available and can be made quickly.
Nectar Recipe
Ingredients
Saucepan
Hummingbird feeder
Water
Granulated sugar
Instructions
Put water in the pan and boil it for five minutes. Remove it from the stove. Don’t boil it too much; your goal is to just get rid of the chlorine in the water.
After boiling, pour in granulated sugar (4 parts water for every 1 part sugar). Allow the sugar to melt completely. Let this mixture cool down. Put it in the feeder and wait for the birds to come.
Warnings about Homemade Hummingbird Food
Do not put in food coloring or artificial sweeteners in their food. Honey shouldn’t be mixed with the food either. Sugar remains the most vital component. Aside from the feeder, the birds can get sugar from flower nectar and tree sap.
You also need to clean the feeder every week. Mix white vinegar (1 part) and water (4 parts). You can also use dry rice. Spray some of these grains with the vinegar and water. Scrub the feeder thoroughly. Wash the feeder with water. When it’s dry, you can put in more food.
Sugar and Honey
If you made a lot of homemade hummingbird food, put the rest in the fridge. Keep the food there until you want to use it. When preparing the nectar, only use white granulated sugar; other types may not be safe. Powdered types contain elements that contribute to fermentation.
Brown sugar must be avoided at all costs. Brown sugar has iron, which can prove fatal to hummingbirds in the long term.
Again, honey shouldn’t be used. While it’s found in flowers, its sugars encourage the growth of microorganisms in the food.
Dyes and Additives
Be careful when using dyes and assorted additives. These may contain nutrients but they are not necessary because birds can get them from other foods and insects. It is best not to use these at all and stick with the homemade hummingbird food ingredients stated above.
Other Information
Hummingbirds can’t smell food and rely on their eyesight completely. Get a container that is brightly colored (preferably red). Position the container a little high and near some breeze. The breeze should keep other insects away.
It’s also a good idea to put the container in a shaded area. The shaded spot will prevent the nectar from spoiling. Don’t remove the foods during migration time. The belief that food will alter their migration pattern is not true. Just keep the food there. If there are plenty of hummingbirds in the area, set up a couple of feeders.
To keep ants away, use an ant trap. These can be purchased in stores. Just go to the pet or gardening section. This is placed near the feeder and will trap the ants.
Making homemade hummingbird food doesn’t take too much time. Just keep these tips and warnings in mind, and your feathered friends will keep returning.
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I have been mixing humming bird food for a few years now and had an ant problem that I have now solved and would like to comment on my solution. I have the feeder hanging from a metal plant hanger which is about 5-6 feet off the ground on a tall 4 by 4 but I found that the ants were still able to find the feeder. I rubbed petroleum jelly onto the metal hanger ( aprox.2-3 inches in length and all around the hanger)in a place where the humming birds would not get it on them. It created a barrier that the ants could not cross or they would get stuck and die. Very cheep, very simple, a little messy, but it works really well.
Hope this is a good solution for your subscribers.
Nancy