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The Care and Feeding of Hummingbirds

© Terrie Murray

The other day in the mail we had a letter from my mother and father-in-law, who live in Freeport, Ohio. They had their first hummingbird of the year on May 5. Yesterday my husband and I went shopping for a wedding present for our niece Sian, who will obtain her Masters Degree from Georgetown University on May 26 and who will be married in Montreal on June 2. We chose a lovely, etched-glass hummingbird feeder (Sian, you'd better not be reading my column before your wedding, or you'll spoil the surprise!). This morning I had an e-mail from my friend Carol, who lives here in Portland, reporting that she had a Costas hummingbird in her yard this weekend, a very rare sighting for our area. In my own yard, I have hummingbirds coming at regular intervals for sips of nectar from the hummingbird feeder. Summertime is hummer-time!

If you want to attract hummingbirds to your yard, think RED. Hummers love the color red. Plant red flowers, preferably with tubular blossoms, like fuchsias and trumpetvine. One birdwatching friend hangs old red t-shirts around his hummingbird feeder, to attract birds flying overhead on migration. My hummingbird feeder has red plastic blossoms which function as the feeder ports. You can also attach red ribbons or artificial flowers to your hummingbird feeder. I have a red baseball cap with flowers on it, and I've been dive-bombed more than once by curious hummingbirds, so I can attest to the fact that they love red! What you don't want to do, however, is add red food coloring to the nectar in your hummingbird feeder. Although some experts claim it does no harm, other experts believe it can make the birds sick. Why risk it?

Commercial nectar mixes can be purchased, but they are not necessary. Yes, some do contain added vitamins and minerals, but nectar from feeders is a small percentage of what a hummingbird will eat during the day, and they will get all the vitamins and minerals they need from natural food sources. To make hummingbird nectar, mix one part sugar to four parts water and boil for a minute or so. When the mixture has cooled, pour into your hummer feeder. You'll need to change the nectar every couple of days in hot weather. If you see any black spots in the nectar, or if it appears at all cloudy, wash the feeder thoroughly and fill with fresh nectar. Fermented nectar can make hummingbirds sick. The same goes for honey. Don't use a honey mixture in your feeders, it can grow bacteria fatal to hummingbirds.