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Hummingbird Tips

Hummingbirds feed on flower nectar and insects. If you make your own nectar, see our Nectar Recipe link to the right.

It may take a week or so for a hummingbird to start using a new feeder, especially if they have been feeding from other feeders in the same area. If they continue to feed from only one type of feeder, try changing the location of your feeders, or taking one down for awhile. Hummingbirds are little creatures of habit!

Hummingbirds need flowers and insects, in addition to nectar supplied by a hummingbird feeder. To help attract hummingbirds to your feeder area, plant some perennial and annual flowers that attract the hummingbirds, such as salvia, honeysuckle, trumpet vine, larkspur, petunias, nasturtiums, lilacs, or fuchsias. Hummingbirds are attracted to red flowers, but they actually also visit all other colors that you might find in natural flowers. Geraniums are actually wonderful hosts for spiderwebs, which is the building material of hummingbird nests!

Some people have asked how the hummingbird can reach into the flower feeding tubes of our Parasol feeders. A hummingbird's tongue is very long -- on average twice the length of the peak. So they can actually reach nectar up inside the tube feeders, or all the way down to the bottom of the top-feeding vessels.

Always keep your feeder clean. A dirty feeder causes bacteria to grow rapidly, causing the nectar to go bad. Hummingbirds will reject a feeder with fermented nectar. Clean your feeder regularly and diligently -- every 5 days in cool weather, every 2-3 days in hot weather. You can clean the glass and feeding tubes frequently using a 1:5 white vinegar rinse. Clean at least every 2-3 weeks with a 1:10 bleach solution. Always rinse your feeder and feeding tubes very well after refilling. We offer several cleaning brushes to help you with this job.

To discourage ants, try one of our Ant Moats.