Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Part One: Making hummingbird nectar
• Method 2 of 3: Part Two: Preventing Mold and Fermentation
• Method 3 of 3: Part Three: Change the Quality of Your Nectar
• Tips

Hummingbirds are magical creatures, and hardly anyone can argue with that. They cut through the air like small, winged cheetahs. Attract these birds to your garden by hanging them a special home-made feeder.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Part One: Making hummingbird nectar

1. 1 Make a strong sugar syrup to attract hummingbirds to your garden. The sugar syrup will attract hummingbirds to your home. This syrup is full of energy, which is so necessary for hummingbirds in the spring, after their long migration.
   • Don't buy hummingbird nectar fortified with nutrients. It will cost you more, and the hummingbirds themselves won't get much from it. Hummingbirds get all the nutrients they need from the flower nectar and the bugs they eat. The syrup you give them will be an invigorating snack for them.
2. 2 For the syrup, use one part white sugar, sand sugar and two parts water. Stir the syrup until the sugar is completely dissolved. The carbohydrates that hummingbirds get from this syrup are easy to digest and immediately give the birds the energy they need to fly.
3. 3 Boil the sugar water for a couple of minutes. Boiling will slow down the bacterial growth in the syrup. Also, boiling will remove chlorine and fluoride, which can be harmful to hummingbirds. If you are making small amounts of food, there is no need to boil it.
   • If you don't boil the syrup, you should change your food every 1-2 days, otherwise bacteria will start to develop there and harm hummingbirds.
4. 4 Don't add dyes to food. Although hummingbirds are attracted to red, red dyes can harm birds. Natural hummingbird food (nectar) is odorless and colorless, so there is no need to color your food.
5. 5 Save hummingbird food for future use. You can cook large portions at once and keep food in the refrigerator to refill the pan when needed. This way you save a lot of time and effort.
6. 6 Choose the right feeder. The best feeders are red, as hummingbirds are attracted to the red color. Hang the feeder in the shade to keep the nectar fresh longer. Hang your feeder either in your garden or outside your window to enjoy these beautiful birds. Be careful that cats cannot reach the feeder.
   • Some experts say that the feeder should be hung outside the window only if paper birds are glued to the window. This way, hummingbirds won't bounce against the window.

Method 2 of 3: Part Two: Preventing Mold and Fermentation

1. 1 Remember that food can be harmful if fermented or moldy. When the sugar syrup becomes cloudy, you should replace it. Yeast feeds on sugar, leading to fermentation, which can harm hummingbirds. Also, warm syrup is the best place for bacteria and mold to grow.
2. 2 Check the feeder as often as possible for black mold. If possible, check the feeder every day. This way you won't accidentally harm the hummingbird. If you find mold in your feeder, soak it in bleach for an hour. Afterwards, wipe away any mold from it and wash the feeder well with water before refilling it with food.
3. 3 Clean the feeder before placing food in it. Wash it off with hot water. Do not use soap, as hummingbirds taste soap and will avoid your feeder.
4. 4 Change the food in the feeders frequently. Be aware that the amount of time you can leave food outside depends on the weather.
   • If the temperature outside is between 21 and 26 degrees Celsius, you should change your food every 5-6 days.
   • If the temperature is between 27 and 30 degrees, change food every 2-4 days.
   • If the temperature reaches 32 degrees, change your food daily.

Method 3 of 3: Part Three: Change the Quality of Your Nectar

1. 1 After a couple of weeks, reduce the amount of sugar in the syrup. This way more birds will gather at your feeder. Stir one part sugar with three parts water. Diluted syrup, make hummingbirds fly to feeders more often.
   • Decide on the consistency of your food. Try to make the syrup so that you don't have to fill the trough too often, but don't make it too thick, or hummingbirds will rarely fly up to the trough. By making a syrup with a lot of sugar, you give hummingbirds very nutritious food, so they won't need to refresh themselves often.
   • Do not dilute the syrup more than 4 to 1.While it's okay to make a thick syrup, if you make a very thin syrup, hummingbirds will need more energy to fly than they will get from your food.
2. 2 Plant flowers that hummingbirds love. If you've tried a few syrups and the hummingbirds still don't visit you, plant the flowers they like.
   • Here are some flowers you can plant: Phlox, lupine, mallow, Rose of Sharon, honeysuckle and others.

Tips

• If hummingbirds aren't eating all of their food before it starts to go bad, don't fill the pan to the top. This way, you don't have to waste food all the time.
• Don't use honey, brown sugar, icing sugar, artificial sweeteners, or any other sugar substitute. They do not provide hummingbirds with enough nutrients and can harm or even kill them.