Hummingbird Feeders Add Beauty to Your Garden

Because of the brilliant colors and their motionless, hovering feeding habits of hummingbirds, they are spectacular to watch while being the smallest birds in the world. These birds are small, averaging 3.5 inches from head to tail.

The best way to feed hummingbirds is by using a nectar feeder that you place high enough on a branch so that other animals cannot feed from it. A mixture of sugar and water is the best way to attract hummingbirds. This blend is the closest approximation to flower nectar available. When you prepare homemade nectar you should not use honey, molasses or any other artificial sweeteners.

A simple recipe for homemade nectar is 1 cup of sugar and 3 cups of water, bring to a boil melting the sugar, set aside to cool. When this mixture is cool you can fill your feeder. This is a 1 to 3 mix. You should not add food coloring to the mix.

Hummingbirds rely on the nectar from flowers and other sources for energy but also eat small insects for protein. You should be able to successfully attract hummingbirds to a backyard feeder with a proper combination of cleanliness, timing, and consistency.

A hummingbird feeder has to be clean and the nectar fresh or the bird will not feed from it and if it does, it may become sick. A hummingbird feeder needs to be brightly colored; red or orange are apparently the ideal hues for luring hummingbirds. For the hummingbirds in the area to see the feeder easier, it would be a good idea to attach a red ribbon.

There are a couple of different types of hummingbird feeders. The dish type has a perch and allows a good view of the way a hummingbird feeds. The gravity fed bottle feeder has no perch so that eliminates the problem of other animals landing on it to feed. Hummingbird feeders come in many different styles and shapes from simple glass or plastic bottles and home made feeder plates to beautifully hand blown glass bulbs that enhance the charm of any backyard.

The best time to hang your hummingbird feeder is shortly before spring. If a hummingbird is drawn to the bird feeder during this time, it will likely return throughout the spring, summer, and well into fall.

If you are interested in attracting beautiful hummingbirds to your own garden then why not try adding some flowering plants next to a feeder? The same plants you have in your yard will attract butterflies as well as hummingbirds. By going to your local garden supply shop you will be able to locate feeders and plants to attract the hummingbirds.