{"id":3011,"date":"2017-08-03T13:52:53","date_gmt":"2017-08-03T20:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2023-08-15T13:31:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T20:31:24","slug":"the-best-way-to-feed-hummingbirds-in-warm-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/?p=3011","title":{"rendered":"The Best Way to Feed Hummingbirds in Warm Weather"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Anna<\/p>\n

Scorchingly hot weather is upon us<\/strong> in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s understandable to want to feed hummingbirds, but here’s the thing: Hummingbirds have no sense of smell and cannot tell if the sugar water in a feeder has gone bad. Deadly toxins can contaminate a sugar solution rather quickly in very warm weather\u2014as fast as 24 hours\u2014especially if the feeder receives some sunlight. Hummingbirds may become ill (and consequently more subject to predation) and even die from feeding at unattended feeders. And I don’t even want to think about a mother hummingbird’s nestlings<\/a> who might starve to death after she’s been sickened by fermented sugar water that’s rich in mold and bacteria. So if you cannot keep your feeder fresh and clean, please don’t feed them via artificial feeders. <\/p>\n

\"AnnaReal flowers are best<\/strong>
\nTo avoid all these potential dangers, I strongly recommend growing plants (preferably native to your area so that other species benefit as well) that provide natural nectar<\/a> which contains micronutrients, unlike refined sugar. Besides the nutrition and safety of real nectar, you won’t have to deal with unwelcome insects at feeders. Hummingbirds may also consume a sugary liquid from trees and often forage where woodpeckers called sapsuckers create sapwells from which hummers feed<\/a>. I’ve also seen them at ripe fruit on my fig tree.<\/p>\n

Also keep in mind that these amazing little birds do not live on nectar alone: their diet and that of their young includes a surprisingly large amount of tiny insects (and spiders) for protein, and the best way to provide it is, again, with native plants, which supply drastically more insects<\/a> than non-native plants. And, needless to say, fresh water<\/a> is essential for all birds and your yard should be free of any pesticides.<\/p>\n

Feeder recommendations<\/strong>
\nIf you do feel a need to feed hummers via artificial feeders, here’s a handy chart for how often to clean and refill your feeder, courtesy the Wild Bird Shop:<\/p>\n

\n
Daily high temp in shade \/ Frequency of cleaning\/refilling<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
61-70\u00ba                                4 – 5 days<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
71-80\u00ba                                3 days<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
81-85\u00ba                                2 days<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
86\u00ba+                                   daily<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2666 Refill with just the amount of sugar solution that will be consumed in the time period according to the temperature range.
\n\u2666 Keep feeders in the shade.
\n\u2666 Choose feeders that don’t have tubes or removable parts, which are very difficult to keep clean. I like the HummZinger<\/a> feeders, which are VERY easy to clean. Rinse well after cleaning with hot soapy water (no bleach).
\n\u2666 Stay away from the colored, pre-mixed commercially available solutions\u2014natural nectar is colorless, and adding red dye and preservatives is adding unnecessary, unnatural, and possibly harmful chemicals to the birds\u2019 food. If your feeder doesn’t have red on it, simply hang a red ribbon next to the feeder.
\n\u2666 Only use white cane sugar in a ratio of 4 parts water (preferably filtered, w\/o chlorine) to one part sugar. No honey, molasses, or syrups.<\/p>\n

\"HummZinger\"<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a9 2017 Eileen M. Stark<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/div>\n
To leave a comment, click on post’s title<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scorchingly hot weather is upon us in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s understandable to want to feed hummingbirds, but here’s the thing: Hummingbirds have no sense of smell and cannot tell if the sugar water in a feeder has gone bad. Deadly toxins can contaminate a sugar solution rather quickly in very warm weather\u2014as fast as 24 hours\u2014especially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[94],"tags":[251,406,252,136,219,250],"class_list":["post-3011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wildlife","tag-annas-hummingbird","tag-hummingbird-feeders","tag-hummingbird-nectar","tag-northwest-native-plants","tag-pollinator-garden","tag-wildlife-garden"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p69uLV-Mz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3011"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5922,"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011\/revisions\/5922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}