Hummingbird Food
How to Make Your Own Hummingbird Food
Just about everyone loves to see hummingbirds in their yard, and many people will put out hummingbird food so that the birds stick around. They are delightful to watch and will often make diving moves to impress one another. They are the only bird that can just hover in one spot and even fly backwards. That’s because they have wings that don’t move up and down, but instead go around in circles.
Hummingbirds are constantly hungry and they eat a lot of food. One of the first things you need to know if you are going to start putting out hummingbird food is that these birds to not eat seeds like other birds. They eat nectar and insects. If you want to get hummingbirds into your yard, one of the first things you can do is to plant flowers. They will be attracted to the nectar.
Some of the plants hummingbirds like the most are impatiens, fuchsias, honeysuckle, bee balm and clematis. Hummingbirds also like nectar that you can buy or make yourselves and put out in a hummingbird feeder. Hummingbird feeders are cylindrical and usually brightly colored red to attract the birds. Hummingbirds can see in color. Feeders can be hung by windows to make it easy for you to watch the birds eat.
There is no need to spend money buying commercial hummingbird food. What you make at home is just as good for the birds and maybe even better. The recipe is very simple--one part sugar to four parts water. Just bring your water to a boil and add the sugar. You can boil it for a couple of minutes and then remove the pot from the stove and let it cool. Then this homemade hummingbird food can be poured in the bird feeder. You can also create homemade nectar by using warm water from the tap and not using the boiling process.
Some people think they need to add coloring to the hummingbird food, but this is unnecessary as hummingbird feeders usually come in the color red to attract the birds. Hummingbirds see in color and are able to pick out feeders and colorful flowers. When you make your hummingbird food, be sure not to use anything but regular sugar and water. Honey cannot be used and neither can sugar substitutes. If you have made more nectar syrup than will fit in the bird feeder, you can save it up to a week in the refrigerator.
Hummingbird feeders get sticky and need to be washed a minimum of once a week or they will start getting moldy. The best cleaner for a hummingbird feeder is vinegar, mixed one part to four parts water. Scrub the feeder and rinse it several times in clear warm water before pouring you hummingbird food inside it.