Hummingbird Feeding
Learn how to feed and help hummingbirds stay healthy
Bottle-style Feeders
(such as the ones with yellow plastic flowers around nectar holes) can encourage mold growth - shallow dish feeders are safer but may attract more bees, hornets, and wasps, as well as larger birds that may keep the hummers away.
Disinfecting Feeders
As with seed feeders, disinfect hummingbird feeders once a week during cool weather, and twice a week during warm. On bottle feeders, use a thin-bristle brush or pipe cleaner.
Homemade nectar
should be one part sugar (preferably organic) to four parts water, boiled for 4 minutes to eliminate contaminants. Cool to room temperature before filling feeders and placing outdoors.
Do NOT use raw sugar – it's colored by molasses, which hummingbirds can’t digest.
Do NOT add red dye or use a packaged red nectar powder.
NEVER use honey, which contains spores that can cause fungus to grow on a hummingbird’s tongue.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use artificial sweeteners! They have no food value and will starve or poison hummingbirds!
Change nectar weekly in the winter and more often in the summer, when warmer temperatures can increase mold growth.