Hummingbird Food Recipe

Because They Don’t Know the Words

Hummingbirds are delightful creatures whose appearance in your garden can be mesmerizing. These smallest of birds can only be found in the Americas from as far north as Alaska to the very tip of Chile.

Hummingbirds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird, which is the smallest and weighs as much as .06 of an ounce and is two inches long, to the Giant hummingbird, which can weigh as much as .85 of an ounce and can grow to an amazing 8.5 inches long.

Hummingbirds are the only birds capable of flying backwards. They can flap their wings between 15-80 times per second, enabling them to not only fly backwards but to hover and maneuver with incredible precision.

Flower Power

Hummingbird nectar is usually found in flowers that are colored pink, red, or orange, which is why hummingbird feeders are colored similarly. The flowers that hummingbirds are most attracted to produce nectar that is 25 percent sugars made up of mostly sucrose. Sucrose is the same kind of sugar that is found in common granulated sugar, which is why the most common hummingbird feeder recipe uses plain, granulated sugar.

Leave The Color to the Flower

Most commercially available hummingbird food will be colored red. The red dye is not only unnecessary but might be harmful to the hummingbirds. When making hummingbird nectar, only sugar and water are necessary.

Commercially available hummingbird food will often contain preservatives, flavoring agents, and nutritional additives, all of which are unnecessary and can sometimes cause illness in hummingbirds.

Hummingbird Food Recipe

The fact that the hummingbird’s favorite nectar is 25 percent sugar and 75 percent water tells us that this is a perfect recipe for hummingbird food. The one thing that you do have to do is boil the mixture to prevent the growth of bacteria. This hummingbird food recipe is like simple syrup; you just don’t boil it as long.

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 cups water

Instructions

1. Place sugar and water into a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Let the mixture boil until the sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Let the mixture cool.
5. Pour into your humming bird feeder.
6. Wait for the hummingbirds.
7. Be sure to clean the feeder with hot soapy water at least once a week, ideally once every 4 days.

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