Thursday, July 3, 2008

Feeding the Hummingbirds

Broad-Billed Hummingbird, Male Feeding on Garden Flowers, USA by Dave Watts
image courtesy of Allposters

Buying hummingbird food can be quite expensive. You can make your own at home.

Boil 1 cup water. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar. Remove from heat. Do not continue to heat once the sugar is dissolved, as this changes the ration of sugar to water, thus changing the nutritional value for
the birds.

Never use honey, artificial sweeteners, or food coloring. If you are making a large batch, store the excess in the refrigerator to keep molds and yeasts from growing, as these can be harmful to the birds also.


6 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing this recipe. I think humming birds are so beautiful. Have a great 4th of July.Lisa

Anonymous said...

Both of our parents have feeders and I love to watch the hummingbirds. Hmmmm, I think I need my own feeder.

Momma Roar said...

We made this last year when we bought a hummingbird feeder...but none came :( We didn't get it out this year, but maybe we'll try again next year.

It is so nice to find these homemade versions of things that can end up being costly!

Anonymous said...

I love to feed the hummingbirds but have never made my own nectar yet. I'll have to give this a try. (o:

Karen said...

That's exactly the recipe we use, but we've not had any hummingbirds, yet! It's been hanging outside for over a month now. Hmmmm.
I LOVE your old looking/new dress in the post below! You *do* look like you jumped straight out of the 50's era! Love the color combo, too. I think the white is perfect.
We're HUGE fans of the Ricardos, Cleavers, and Taylors of Mayberry.
Nothing else worth watching on TV these days in our opinion.
Happy 4th to you and your family!

Ways of Zion said...

Hubby got me a feeder for Christmas and I hadn't the foggiest idea of what to do! THANKS! we put it up using your recipe this morning!