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Do You Love Feeding Hummingbirds? Learn How to Attract More Now!
Hummingbirds can be attracted into your yard using natural sources of food such as flowers. If you want to attract even more hummingbirds try adding a few hummingbird feeders to your garden. Having plants in your garden that attract hummingbirds is easier than you think. Natural sources of hummingbird food provide nourishment to birds and create added beauty to your landscape. Once hummingbirds have found your flowers and feeders they are likely to return year after year.
Natural Hummingbird Nectar
Hummingbird nectar is sipped from flowers, usually red ones. Petunias, fuchsia, red columbine , trumpet vine and red bee balm are just a few plants that will attract your winged friends. The plants simply need sun and water to grow and the birds will find them on their own. Tiny flying insects are another natural food source for hummingbirds.
"Artificial" Hummingbird Food
You can attract hummingbirds even if you don't have a yard. If you live in an apartment, a condo or even in the city don't worry, you can still attract hummingbirds. Hanging flower baskets do a great job at attracting hummingbirds in small spaces. Hummingbirds can also be attracted using hummingbird feeders. They come in many designs, colors and sizes. They will easily hang under your eaves, on windowsills or even right on a window.
Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red so hummingbird feeders with red coloring attract more hummingbirds. Hummingbird feeders come in many shapes but the shape is not really important to hummingbirds. The nectar inside is what the hummers are looking for.
Hummingbird Feeders
There are two styles of hummingbird feeders - dish and bottle. The bottle style feeder is typically an upside down plastic or glass bottle with a feeding tube coming out the bottom. The end of the feeding tube often has a plastic red flower to attract hummingbirds. Some also include bee-guards to keep flying insects off the feeding port. You should hang your bottle feeder in the shade when possible. If the sugar solution heats up it expands. This expansion may cause the feeder to leak from the feeding port.
When shopping for dish style hummingbird feeders you will find some made out of plastic. The other style is made from blown glass. These feeders are beautiful pieces of art that will add a touch of class to your bird feeding station. Plastic dish feeders consist of a dish to hold the nectar and a cover with multiple feeding ports. The feeding ports are usually shaped like flowers to attract hummingbirds. The topside feeding ports are not appealing to flying insects, as they cannot reach the nectar inside. I have tried both styles of hummingbird feeders and I think the dish style works the best.
Recipe for Making Hummingbird Food
Making nectar for feeding hummingbirds is simple. The traditional recipe calls for 4 parts of water to one part sugar. You can adjust the batch size to fit your feeder needs as long as you maintain the 4 to 1 ratio. If you go through a lot of nectar and have a large number of feeders to fill daily, you can mix 4 gallons of water with one gallon of white sugar. For small feeders, mix 4 cups of water with one cup of sugar.
Boiling the water before adding the sugar will help the mixture blend thoroughly. You can also just stir the sugar into cool water but it will take longer to blend. Do not add red food dye to the mixture, it may be harmful to the hummers that eat it. If you have a problem attracting hummingbirds just tie a few strips of red cloth the feeder. The color and movement should draw them to your feeder. If you make extra nectar just store it in the refrigerator until you need it. The mixture will keep for a few weeks if kept cold.
Hummingbirds will visit your hummingbird feeders into the fall. Many of the hummers you see at your feeders in the fall are migrating from locations farther north. The nourishment they receive from your feeders will provide the energy needed for the long flight to their winter home.
The effort you put into attracting hummingbirds will be rewarded for years to come. Studies have proved that hummingbirds will come back to the same feeding grounds from year to year.
Article Source: ArticleZones.com
About the Author
If you enjoy feeding hummingbirds I want help you attract more of them. Using plants with hummingbird feeders will bring these attractive birds flocking to your garden. Just apply these easy to follow tips.
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