Save the Hummingbirds!
Hummingbirds need proper care to stay healthy (they know how to care for themselves best). The problem is, people think they are doing good things for the hummingbirds, when they are really causing health issues and deaths. Save the hummingbirds – feed only sugar water to hummingbirds in the feeders!
People use feeders which are plastic – plastic leaches toxins when heated – most hummingbird feeders are in sunny areas, so the solution and feeder heat up. I have a glass feeder, but the bottom is plastic, unfortunately (it’s hard to find anything that isn’t partially plastic). Try to keep it in shade all the time.
The hummingbird “solutions” and store mixes aren’t necessary nor good. There are additives that are potentially harmful (they do not need vitamins or ANY additives!), including red coloring (which is unnecessary – feeders have plenty of red color to attract the hummingbirds). It’s easy to make a good sugar to water ratio for hummingbirds solution of 3-4 parts cold water to 1 part white sugar (not any other type sweetener, not honey, not even organic sugar). Boil until dissolved (or just add hot water but preferably not hot tap water which could add more minerals from the pipes and hot water heater) to the sugar and stir well, let cool and fill the feeder. Put any extra solution into the refrigerator for refilling (but use within about a week, so that it’s always fresh). Boil the water in an inert pot – no teflon or aluminum or cheap pot that could leach impurities.
Depending on how many birds come to feed, you should adjust how much sugar water you fill – to try to have the feeder empty in 2-3 days optimal, so it doesn’t go rancid, get moldy or ferment (if in a drier cool environment, you “might” be able to get 3-4 days). By the 2nd or up to 3rd day, do throw out the old sugar water, and clean the feeder (including the feeder spouts) with a scrub brush and no soap (which could harm the birds).
Often ants and yellow jackets find their ways into the feeder water and start the decline of the sugar water – scrub their black residues off of the feeder. Refill with new sugar solution. Once you get an idea of how much water is consumed by the hummingbirds in a day, fill the feeder to a level perhaps twice that, so there is less waste.
If the hummingbirds suspect rancid or bad food, you might see them avoid your feeders because they would tell others to leave yours alone (I would hope they realize not to drink the bad sugar water).
Save the hummingbirds – plant flowers! Don’t buy flowers that have been treated with pesticides, and don’t put pesticides on your flowers – that could kill the birds. Flowers would have the most perfect food for the hummingbirds. I opt for tubular type flowers, so their bills can reach in for the nectar (like lilies). Be wary of cheap flowers or flowers from a hardware store – they are often treated with pesticides that are harmful or fatal to hummingbirds and bees.
If people would try to understand that the good they are trying to do for the hummingbirds, it might not really be good for them. Maybe we could change the course of hummingbird health – and increase the populations, keeping us entertained for years to come. Follow the least processed, most natural path for them. Feed only white sugar water to hummingbirds, and change it often.
Email me any comments to post!
P.R.