Hummingbird food9/10/2023 Join in and receive “Tips & Info” and share this site with your friends and family through the social sharing buttons below. Spring arrival and just before fall migration will help Hummingbirds have the energy they need. ![]() Mixing a stronger solution of nectar for your feeders during high energy use times will be very helpful to Hummers. If you mix the Hummingbird food correctly there will be no ill effects to the little Hummers. Hummingbirds are extremely active all day in their nonstop quest for food so they burn energy quickly.Īs a result, the sugar they consume through syrup feeders will not harm them. These tiny birds have a very high metabolic rate. Hummingbirds consume almost half their weight in sugar each day from natural and human-provided sources. The Hummers of course are getting a mix of sweetness strength as they flit from flower to flower. It’s easy to make hummingbird food with just table sugar and water. Wildflowers have a wide range of nectar sweetness strength with some up to 50:50 sugar content and others with a much weaker sugar content. The mixture recommended (1 part sugar to 4 parts water) closely matches the strength found in flower nectar in the mid-range of sugar strength found in flowers. What Strengths can Hummingbird Nectar be Mixed?įlower nectar is a sucrose sugar much like the white sugar we purchase at the grocery store. I t is also necessary to keep up a regular regimen of cleaning and refilling often with fresh syrup.įact, Hummingbird food made with water & sugar very closely resembles flower nectar in its makeup. It isn’t absolutely necessary to boil the water, especially if you change your syrup every day or every second day.īut, mold will be re-introduced into the sugar solution from the Hummingbird’s beaks, so starting out with a clean feeder is important. It will also reduce any chlorine or fluorine that is in the water. This information is recommended by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.īoiling will kill any bacteria or mold spores that may be present. In the autumn as migration time approaches flowers have withered so you can make your syrup a little stronger again to provide extra energy for them to store up for the long trip. Then you can slowly make it less sweet as the summer progresses and they won’t even notice! You can make your syrup solution a little sweeter in the spring until your Hummers are hooked and this will also give them the extra energy they need after migration and starting their family duties! Allow mixture to cool if you boiled the water to room temperature before filling clean feeders.Add the sugar and stir until all the granules are dissolved.It is not necessary to boil the water if you are using all the mixture immediately.And if you do boil, measure after boiling as some of the water will be lost in boiling. You should boil the water if you are going to make more than you need that day and storing the rest in the refrigerator.(example: 1cup white sugar + 4 cups water) Use 1 part sugar to 4 parts water mixture.
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