Sunday, September 4, 2016

Hummingbird Feeding Frenzy

This is the story of our Hummingbird feeding frenzy. We first started out with a single 4 port feeder and it was commandeered by a single Hummingbird so we put up 2 of them. This resulted in a few coming on a regular basis so we decided to put up a third and this is when it started to become a feeding frenzy. We would have 10 to 20 Hummingbirds buzzing about and the feeders would have to be changed 3 to 5 times a day so we decided to get bigger feeders so that we did not have to change them so often so the new feeders hold 4 cups of nectar and have 10 feeding ports each. These are working out great but now we have a hoard of different types of Hummingbirds coming and they are draining these feeders 3 times a day but they provide so much entertainment that we are committing ourselves to keeping these going. This means making a stock pot of nectar a day and going through 75 to 80 pounds of sugar a month. I think after you watch the videos you will feel the same way about them as we do. They are a great source of entertainment for a reasonable price. The feeders are made by First Nature from Amazon.com and can be found by pushing the link. They do not have the yellow flowers on them as they attract bees. If you decide to start feeding Hummingbirds please do not feed them the red nectar. Instead make your own. The recipe is simple it is 1 cup of white sugar mixed with 4 cups of water. Do not add red food coloring as it harms the birds and is not needed. Bring to a boil and then allow to cool. Store in your refrigerator and be sure to change the nectar every 3 or 4 days if it lasts that long and be sure to give the feeders a good wash and rinse before refilling. To clean the feeding ports the easiest thing to use is a pipe cleaner. 


The first video is taken from our kitchen window. 





The other 1 shows the color of the birds better and I apologize ahead of time as the camera had some focusing issues but the videos are worth a watch. Hope you enjoy.