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I heard some good tips on the radio this morning for feeding hummingbirds, and I thought I'd pass them on.
Use sugar, not honey, for a sweetener. Honey can harbor certain fungi that cause illness.
The sugar water should be mixed at a ratio of one part sugar to four parts water. Any more sugar and the hummingbirds need to use their own body water to metabolize the sugar and they can become dehydrated.
Avoid red food coloring; it is not necessary.
Fresh sugar water should be put out every 2-3 days and the feeder should be cleaned thoroughly at that time. If old sugar water sits in a feeder it can ferment and cause liver damage to the birds.
A feeder should not have perches. If the hummingbird sits and rests while feeding, especially on a cool day, it can actually succumb to hypothermia within minutes because the bird is not generating body heat.
These tips come from Laura Erickson, a local expert on birds. Her website is:
For The Birds .
Use sugar, not honey, for a sweetener. Honey can harbor certain fungi that cause illness.
The sugar water should be mixed at a ratio of one part sugar to four parts water. Any more sugar and the hummingbirds need to use their own body water to metabolize the sugar and they can become dehydrated.
Avoid red food coloring; it is not necessary.
Fresh sugar water should be put out every 2-3 days and the feeder should be cleaned thoroughly at that time. If old sugar water sits in a feeder it can ferment and cause liver damage to the birds.
A feeder should not have perches. If the hummingbird sits and rests while feeding, especially on a cool day, it can actually succumb to hypothermia within minutes because the bird is not generating body heat.
These tips come from Laura Erickson, a local expert on birds. Her website is:
For The Birds .