ATTRACTING AND FEEDING THE AMAZING HUMMINGBIRD

Make your own yard the neighborhood hummingbird hangout!  Invite these tiny, darting, hovering, feathered friends to gather right within sight of your favorite lounge chair.  Read these Tips for Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds, get an effective HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER, and learn how to make them stick around for hours of fascinating entertainment.

Get To Know Your Guests:

Hummingbirds need the energy they gain from flower and feeder nectar to power their search for protein and nutrients found in the insects and spiders they eat.  All this maintains their astonishing metabolism.  Hummingbirds spend 80% of their time perching and saving the high energy it takes to hover while they are feeding elsewhere.    Provide a good perch for them to sit while they feast on your feeder.  SEE OUR LINE OF QUALITY HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS.  

Watch the habits of your hummers to see where they like to feed: Is it high vines and trees, or low lying plants and bushes?  Experiment with the height of the feeder because different varieties of humming birds will feed at different heights.

Early Invitation:

Start early in the season to attract hummingbirds when they first come to town.  Check your local Audubon Society for dates of earliest sightings of hummers for your area.  We see them in our area in early May, so ours are cleaned, filled and up a few weeks before that.  Of course, you can lure them to your area any time during the season, if they are in the neighborhood.  Just do some party planning when you plant your yard and include several types of hummingbird friendly flowers to entice them. They love tubular blooms and the color red.

Well Set Table:

Choose a recommended hummingbird feeder that is proven to work well in providing a good flow of nectar and is easy to clean.  Keep your feeder clean and free of mold, bacteria and old nectar to provide safe and healthy refreshments.  Make sure the feeder is easy to take apart and clean.  Use a good brush to keep ports open and residue from forming inside the container.  Rinse well weekly or more in hot weather.  Do not use soap, as this tends to leave a residue that the hummingbirds will not like.  Rinse with a small amount of bleach solution to kill any mold and flush out completely with hot water.  Hang your feeder in a spot away from direct and constant sunlight during hot months to avoid faster spoiling of nectar, and evaporation.  Never use red coloring, honey or brown sugar; these are dangerous for the little creatures.  Simply mix four parts hot water to one part plain granulated cane sugar, or purchase our Hummingbird Nectar Mix for fast refills.  No need to boil the water, as the microorganisms that cause fermentation are not from the water, but from the hummingbirds themselves when they land and feed on the feeder.

You may wish to liven up your "table" with unique and decorative feeders such as HAND BLOWN GLASS HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS from Parasol,  or GLASS INVERTED JAR HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS from Schrodt.   If function is your main goal, then check out the BEST-1 HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS  for great prices and performance. DROLL YANKEE makes  great, durable HANGING OR WINDOW MOUNT HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS.

Keep It Coming:

Refill often to keep the hummers interested and avoid sending them to another party elsewhere.  Don't let them lose interest.  Homemade Hummingbird Nectar Recipe keeps the cost down and is very easy to mix and store.  Add additional feeders to avoid a rowdy, aggressive crowd.

For more information on Feeding Hummingbirds, see our selection of Birding Books.

To attract and feed hummingbirds, check out our great selection of  FUNCTIONAL AND DECORATIVE HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS and enjoy the ENCHANTMENT OF LIFE in your own Backyard.
 

To see our full line of Quality Bird Watching Gifts for Attracting, Nesting and Feeding Wild Birds including: Bird Feeders, Birdhouses, Hummingbird Feeders, and Bird Baths, and Unique Home and Garden Decor such as Wind Chimes, Mylar Windsocks, Garden Gnomes and more, go to www.BackyardBirdsandGardens.com

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