Humming Birds

[Richard Miller]

The so called nectar in a bird feeder: Isn't that just sugar water? About a

4 to 1 ratio? Should you put red die in it? Is it ok to put it in the sun?

Richard

[madgardener]

madgardener whose hummers seem to have gone to Mexico..............

[Keith Corwell]

[cardarch]

I live in Philadelphia, PA and mine are gone.

[Travis]

Yes. Water to sugar 4 to 1. No red dye. It is bad for the birds. If the feeder is in the sun it will go bad quicker.

[Travis]

The ratio is 4 to 1.

[Travis]

I leave mine out year round.

[Valkyrie]

Travis and I are lucky in that we get hummers year around, I have pictures of Annas feeding from snow covered feeders in February. In the very cold weather I make the 'juice' 3 parts hot water and 1 part sugar, just stir till dissolved. I don't boil it, don't boil it in the summer either, I just don't make up mass quantities. Done it for years with no problems. No red food coloring, totally unnecessary and probably harmful. I also have duplicate feeders. While two are up the other two are running through the dishwasher. I use the Humzingers, easy to clean, fill, etc.

In the winter I do take in the feeder about an hour after sundown and set my alarm to get it back outside about an hour before sunrise when it's freezing weather. I got comments about some of my winter hummer pictures that I needed to adjust exposure. It was still o' dark thirty when the first hummers hit the feeders in the morning and I was taking pictures with a flash, the pictures weren't dark, the dark was DARK!

Val Lat. 47:42:18N Lon. 122:21:19W Alt. 5ft 2in (when fully vertical)

[cardarch]

Please show us pictures? What are Anna's?

[Snooze]

I think the point of boiling it is to sterilize the syrup and retard spoilage. Sugar water, is a an all-you-can-eat buffet for all kinds of microorganisms.

-S

[Valkyrie]

The Anna hummingbird.

[Anonny Moose]

Boiling the water just helps dissolve the sugar. I think mold is the major concern and even boiling it you'll get mold growth if you leave it out long enough. The feeder needs to be cleaned often.

[Travis]

It should be 4 to 1. Water to sugar.

[Valkyrie]

well, that didn't work :o(

[madgardener]

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington USDA Zone 8 Sunset Zone 5

[Travis]

Try this

[madgardener]

Boiling the water just helps dissolve the sugar. I think mold is the major concern and even boiling it you'll get mold growth if you leave it out long enough. The feeder needs to be cleaned often.

boiling the water dissolves the sugar, but boiling the water dissipates the chlorine and florides (if there is florides added to the water) which aren't bad but not necessarily good for the birds either..........(hell in the wild they face DDT's and pesticides........) and yes, Travis, 4-1 ratio, but honestly, it doesn't hurt them to make it a bit richer for their flight to their winter homes. madgardener

[Valkyrie]

I was trying to get the pictures I had of my annas feeding in the dark and off snow covered feeders, can't seem to get the album link to work properly :(

Val

[Valkyrie]

In the summer I use the 4 to 1 ratio, when the fall/winter temps start to dip into the 30s I switch to 3 to 1. We have annas here year around.

Val

[Travis]

They are here year round also and I always use 4 to 1. They also eat bugs for protein and fat etc.