![]() I have lots of plants with blossoms that the birds like so they feed on natural nectar from plants and not just the feeder's nectar.Want to learn how to make butterfly nectar? I try to avoid eating dyes and additives and I certainly wouldn't feed them to one of God's creatures!! I have a glass feeder and I keep the rest of my food in a glass container in the fridge, I don't want to give the poor birds leeched chemicals from plastic containers either, especially ones that sit in the sun. Thank you, Chef Joey Z., for not posting with red dye. Solutions stronger than 1 to 3 may not meet the birds' water needs and are not recommended. DO NOT use red dye, honey, brown sugar, artificial sweeteners, or commercial "instant nectar" mixes! The solution can be made slightly weaker (1 to 5) in the late-spring/early-summer dry season and slightly stronger (1 to 3) from August through February for migrating and wintering birds. Here's what it says there.Fill your feeder with 1 part white granulated sugar to 3 or 4 parts water. This is the same recipe that is suggested on the Arizona Hummingbird Survey's website. Where I live in the California Desert (Palm Springs) we regularly have 7 different species coming and going with the seasons.Our year around residents are Anna's and Rufous. Just use less.I have 10 feeders within a 20 x 20 foot area and have counted as many at 50 hummers at once. It makes no sense to throw half of the nectar away. I use about 50% vinegar (either white or apple cider vinegar) and 50% HOT water.Rinse the feeder well before refilling.In HOT climates -don't fill the feeders full as the nectar ferments and should be changed every other day. Use good old vinegar-which is natural and easily washes away. ![]() Bleach can leave a residue that will kill a hummer. Keep refrigerated.IMPORTANT: the original recipe says to clean the feeders with BLEACH. Close the lid on the container and shake shake shake for about 30 seconds till all the sugar dissolves. It is NOT neccesary to boil the water.First fill your refrigerator container with the dry sugar and then add the HOTTEST tap water you can get. The recipe of One cup sugar to 4 cups water is correct. * If the sugar water in your feeder "turns black" within three days, you likely have a problem with contamination of the feeder and/or the sugar. Soaps and detergents can be a problem if the feeder has nooks and crannies that you can't reach to scrub and rinse, but some well-designed feeders can be washed on the top rack of a dishwasher. As long as you rinse the feeder well, any residual chlorine will be neutralized by the sugar in the solution. * Both vinegar (full-strength) and bleach (diluted) are perfectly okay for cleaning feeders, but bleach is a more powerful disinfectant. The CDC warns against drinking or cooking with ordinary hot tap water because it can contain elevated levels of lead, so it doesn't belong in hummingbird feeders, either. Microwaving is also okay, but don't use hot tap water unless you have a special instant hot water dispenser at your kitchen sink. Pure white sugar is safest.* Boiling isn't strictly necessary, but it does help the sugar dissolve and the solution stay fresh a little longer. If you can't resist coloring your sugar water, use a teaspoon or two of concentrated fruit juice (tart cherry gives a nice bright red color, but the birds don't seem to like the taste of cranberry).* Organic sugar isn't fully refined, and that dingy color comes in part from iron, which hummingbirds have a low tolerance for. * Artificial coloring isn't a huge health issue for us because we consume such small amounts, but hummingbirds can drink three times their weight in nectar or sugar water every day. They meet all their other nutritional needs (protein, vitamins, minerals, etc.) by eating insects and spiders (a good reason to avoid using pesticides in your yard). ![]() Here's my perspective as someone who's studied hummingbirds professionally for more than 25 years: * Hummingbirds visit flowers and feeders for energy and water. There's a lot of well-meaning misinformation floating around about feeding hummingbirds, so it's not surprising that some of it has shown up in the reviews.
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