Feeding

Hummingbird Feeders:

I have tried just about every type of hummingbird feeder in existence over the years, from small ornate ones to the industrial sized Perky Pets Grand Master. This season, I found and have settled on an excellent feeder, called the Humdinger. It is available in bulk from Turbine Industries, and they work out to be a little over $5 each. The benefits of this particular feeder are numerous:

• It has a two part base that is very easy to clean – it doesn’t have tight nooks where bacteria can accumulate (unlike EVERY Perky Pet feeder)
• Has a 32oz glass bottle as the reservoir – so it can go in the dishwasher, and doesn’t degrade in the sun.
• The thread into the base is the same as that for a 2 liter soda bottle, so you can more than double the size of the reservoir * **
• Incredibly cheap!

 * Using a plastic soda bottle is fine as long as the sugar water supply is being used up within a few days. The sugar water tends to degrade a lot quicker in plastic containers than glass

 ** If anyone comes up with an easy, cheap way of using a soda bottle, and mounting it easily, please let me know!

The main reason I would prefer to use soda bottles is one of efficiency. You see, I have 8 feeders around my house in Southern California – all of them the 32oz Humdingers. I have to fill most of them at least every other day through the season, and as of right now, early August, even daily. This means well over 5 gallons of sugar water a week, and lots of time cleaning and replenishing feeders. A 64oz soda bottle would just reduce the workload.

As to sugar water, I am often asked how to make it. Well, it is very simple. Most natural flower nectar is apparently around  21% sugar, so we make our sugar water accordingly – 1 part sugar to 4 parts water.

Sugar Water in Small Batches:

For small batches, I boil a kettle full of water, while measuring out 1 part of sugar in a jug. I add ~2 parts of the boiling water to the sugar, and mix it until it is completely dissolved. I then top up to the total 4 parts of water with cold water. This means the finished solution is a lot quicker to cool to room temperature before putting into feeders.

Sugar water in large batches:

This is the approach I have to take during the summer months, when we are inundated with birds. I use a 5 gallon Igloo drinks cooler as a reservoir. In a (very) large saucepan, I heat up 80 (fluid) oz of sugar into a few quarts of water until the sugar is compeletely dissolved. I then conitune heating for a few minutes, then pour it into the cooler. I then top up the cooler to half full with cold water. I then repeat the entire process to fill the cooler to the top (which is some way over its 5 gallon mark). This is approximately a 4:1 ratio of water to sugar, and can be dispensed easily through the tap of the cooler, right into the Humdinger feeders.

Cleanliness:

Is paramount for feeding hummingbirds. Neglecting to clean feeders thoroughly can lead to bacterial growth, which is known to affect the birds. Feeders must be cleaned thoroughly at every filling, as should the Igloo cooler, every time it is emptied. Not only does this get rid of the bacteria, but after prolonged dispensing of sugar water, the tap on the cooler sometimes clogs up with crystallized sugar, and cleaning remedies this immediately.