Hummingbird "Juice"

Have you ever taken a good look of one of these tiny little creatures? It was so amazing for me to get an up-close look at them 25 years ago in Asheville when we hung our first hummingbird feeder. Since then it has been a yearly tradition to hang one or more of them. You can put them right up close to a window and the birds will feed inches away from you. Once I even hung one inside an open window and the birds came right in the house to eat. I quickly moved the feeder back outside as I was afraid the little thing would take a wrong turn and get lost in the house. It did prove that they are not shy about getting to a feeder!

I have heard two schools of thought on when to hang the feeders. One is to hang them from April 1st to August 1st. The end date is to encourage the birds to fly South before cold weather. I always hated taking the feeders down while thirsty little birds were still coming. Then I heard that you should keep them up until you no longer see the birds because they know when to leave all on their own and you don't want them to loose their food source until they are ready to go. Of course I now subscribe to the second method as I am a true believer that Mother Nature knows a lot better than me and these little birds know exactly what they are doing. Bird brains or not, who knows more about hummingbird behavior than a hummingbird!

I know in Asheville they always began coming in mid April, but it seems they arrive in Raleigh a little later than that. So get your feeders up and these little ruby throated gems will come year after year, remembering where they are located. Let me know when you have your first sighting.

As for the Hummingbird "Juice", the powdered stuff you can buy that makes a red liquid is not necessary and the red dye can even be harmful to the birds. If the feeder has a red plastic base that may be good because they are attracted to the color like a bright flower, but they will come without it. Here's a simple recipe:

Hummingbird Juice

In a glass measuring cup, put 1 or 2 cups of water (depending on how much water your feeder holds). Then add 1/4 cup of granulated white sugar for every cup of water. Heat the liquid to boiling in the microwave and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let the juice cool and fill those feeders. It takes a little while for the birds to find them, but when they do, they won't forget. You should put fresh juice out whenever the feeder is empty or at least every 2 weeks.

Good luck and happy tiny bird watching!
Simply,
Mary