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Hummingbird "Feeder" Tips for Gardeners

© Naomi Mathews

In doing a bit of research, I was fascinated to learn that commercial hummingbird feeders have been in the marketplace for more than fifty years. The first marketed hummingbird feeder was designed by a man named Laurence J. Webster. It seems his wife had read an article in the National Geographic magazine about how someone had used tiny glass bottles for feeding hummingbirds, so she urged her husband to make a special one for her, which he did. His hummingbird feeder design was then produced by an MIT lab in the early 1930s, and was first marketed commercially in 1950 by the Audubon Novelty Company of Medina, New York. His wife must have been ecstatic!

I'm convinced there must be almost as many "species" of hummingbird feeders available today as there are hummingbirds! It seems they abound in nearly every garden center or hardware store that I frequent the year around. I have just one feeder stowed on my garden shelf in our garage now, ready to clean and hang outside come early spring! I usually hang it from our home's roof overhang--right outside my kitchen window--where I can watch the hummers sip nectar while I do my "kitcheny" things.

Although I much prefer watching them sip sweet nectar from my flower blossoms, I think this year I'll strategically place several more feeders to attract even more flying jewels to my yard. What could be a more beautiful sight than observing those amazing hovering hummers up close and personal? I'd be delighted just to have one perch long enough to get a good photo! It can and has been done, but one needs to have a lot of patience. Just take a look at the outstanding photos of hummingbirds at this photo gallery. They will surely make you want to grab your camera and tripod--better yet, a digital camera!--and place them near a hummer feeder in hopes of catching a sipping hummer on film.

For gardeners concerned that hummingbirds will become dependent upon the sugar water {sucrose} from feeders, I offer a word of encouragement. It's a well-known fact that hummers are very territorial and will defend their flowers with a vengeance. I've seen them fighting like naughty children over the same blossoms many times in the course of a single day. Hanging several feeders as additional attractants in various parts of your yard will serve several purposes.

First, feeders will definitely attract even more hummers, which will give you a lot more pleasure while watching them! Secondly, providing nectar-filled feeders, in addition to natural nectar from tubular flowers for them to feed from, will help to assuage some of the fighting that goes on between them. And from my personal observation, they do go back and forth between feeders and blossoms. One year when I took my feeder down to clean, I recall not putting it back up for more than a week {which isn't a good idea, by the way}. But those hungry little hummers were busy sipping at my flower blossoms until the feeder went back up.

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