Yes, of course I know that hummingbirds in a group are not referred to as a herd, but hey, I’m a cowgirl, to me every group is subject to be called a herd………...even a murder of crows! ;)

It might seem to be a strange time of year to be discussing ways to make our yard attractive to hummingbirds, but this is actually a wonderful time to start preparing for next year. Many times I hear people mention how much they want to have hummingbirds spend their summers with them, but the people are ill equipped to invite them, and encourage them to stay. One must be prepared long before the male scouts start buzzing around in early spring. They are very hungry after their long migration, and cannot wait around to see if you are going to offer them good food.

There is a myriad of feeders on the market, some much more attractive to people than to hummers. I have been feeding hummingbirds for a lot of years, here in southern Missouri it’s the Ruby throated. I have tried a plethora of feeder types. I always go back to the 48 oz Perky Pet as my work horse. While I used to feed well over 300 ounces per day, {yes you read that right } hummer numbers have dropped, and for the past couple of years I’ve only been feeding between 150 - 200 ounces per day.

That still means not only multiple feeders, but multiple large feeders, and my go to is the 48 oz Perky Pet Grand Master. It has straight sides which makes it easy to clean, it’s plastic and I’ve been known to drop things. It has six feeding ports, and has perches which allows the little dandies to rest while eating.

One can also buy replacement flowers for the feeding ports. I keep extras on hand, sometimes from when an unfortunate incident occurs and one of my feeders ends up in pieces. Have I mentioned the raccoon wars around here?? Having extras means I am able to do the tedious cleaning of those tiny parts as I have time, and then use the clean ones to replace the ones on a feeder that’s in need of more than the usual wash with a sponge and use of a pipe cleaner in the ports.

I have a whole set up for cleaning my hummingbird feeders. I use a dedicated dish sponge, a bottle brush, a toothbrush, a pipe cleaner, and from my dental background comes the highly useful interproximal brushes. Those things do a fabulous job of cleaning the inside of the feeding ports.

I use Dawn dish soap and rinse like crazy. There cannot be any soap residue left on the feeders.

The formula for hummer juice is FOUR parts water to ONE part sugar. Do NOT use any other type of sweetener, neither natural nor artificial. Do NOT use red dye, it is completely unnecessary and according to many experts, it harms the birds. It is my habit to boil the water first then add the sugar. Boiling the water helps the sugar dissolve completely, and the solution lasts longer if you need to store it. Keep it in the refrigerator in a pitcher for easy pouring.

A mistake I see frequently is not keeping the feeders clean, and the solution fresh. Hummer juice will ferment, and the higher the temperatures, the quicker it will happen. The solution can simply spoil, too, and again, will do so rapidly. If you are trying to attract hummingbirds, you must make sure that you are offering them fresh, good quality food. Even if you see zero hummers, keep cleaning and refilling your feeders, not any less often than every two-three days during cool/moderate temperatures, and absolutely on the daily when it’s 80 degrees or up. If one shows up, and your offer is disgusting, flit…..they’re off to seek better accommodations.

Planting flowers is a fabulous way to attract tiny acrobats. If you have acres that you can plant, that’s wonderful, but even a hanging basket or a container can go a long way to bringing them into your space. The blooms don’t have to be red, hummers like all colors, even white.

Hummingbirds like a variety of blooms. Check with a garden center near you for species adapted to your area. Here in southern Missouri some of my favorite offerings are my favorite, lantana, plus zinnias, salvia, fuschia, petunias. These are all annuals here, and bloom all season, much to the delight of hummingbirds, and me! A perennial that blooms all hummingbird season and is very attractive to them, is butterfly bush. I grow my butterfly bushes in containers to avoid their spread, as some are considered invasive although I have never found this to be the case. The little zoomers also enjoy crepe myrtle. By planting your chosen perennials in the fall they will be ready to start luring in the hummers next spring. For an added bonus, butterflies, and many other pollinators enjoy the same plants.

It’s very exciting when it’s time to start hanging up feeders each spring. I start putting mine up no later than March 20, which is a week earlier than I have ever seen one show up here. The first arrivals are the male scouts. Obviously, I don’t hang full multiple large feeders right off the bat. I have tried several different types of small feeders, but until this year I just ended up frustrated by how difficult they are to clean, so I would just use my large feeders with just a small amount of hummer juice. One must accept the waste of some of the early offerings. It must be available when they buzz in, and it must be fresh, so keep those feeders clean and offering good sustenance. It’s critical for their survival. A hummingbird’s metabolism is so high that they are always only hours away from starvation. Some friends also make this claim, but from what I understand it’s only true for hummingbirds.

This is my discovery for a small feeder that is not only super easy to clean, but it has no yellow, it’s a saucer type, and I have not seen one bee on it. I’ve continued using it all season so I could evaluate it’s true usefulness. I will be purchasing more soon, so that I have them at the ready next March. This feeder holds 10 ozs

They have bottom hooks so you can connect multiples. They also have built in ant moats!

A slightly larger feeder, with no yellow, that I also like for early and late season, is this 16 oz one by First Nature. If you don’t have a large number of hummers, the small feeders may be all you need until you build your herd ;)

The scouts are very hungry, and they will assume possession of the first good feeder they find. They will defend it with all their might, which given their teeny size, is quite impressive!! In an effort to provide food in as peaceful a setting as possible, put out multiple feeders, as far apart as you can. They also take advantage of perching areas where they can survey their domain.

As fabulous as nectar and sugar water are, hummingbirds also not only will eat insects, but insects provide much-needed protein for nesting and bulking up for those long flights. About three years ago I purchased a contraption called a “Humm-Bug”, and it now plays a big role in providing adequate nutrition for my beloved hummingbirds to successfully raise their young.

All one has to do is add fruit, bananas do a fabulous job, even just the peels, then hang it in the vicinity of the nectar feeders. Most of my feeders, including the Humm-Bug, are under the eaves of my house, so they are protected from all but driving rain.

Just wait a few days and you’ll see fruit flies circling around, and the hummers snapping them up. You can also help butterflies by draping a banana peel across the top of the Humm-Bug where they can access it easily.

Just a heads up, don’t hang this up near a door…………...my mistakes often serve as lessons for the public at large, lol

Having hummingbird feeders up is simply fabulous, when they attract the “right clientele”. Hummingbirds of course, but orioles, woodpeckers and some other birds may also help themselves. I consider this to be some bonus action. I hang my feeders close to the house, and in such a way that raccoons cannot avail themselves without tremendous effort. I’ve had more than my fair share of feeders utterly destroyed by coons, so it’s an ongoing battle to keep the feeders out of their reach. If you live in bear country, it is vital that you hang your feeders in such a way, in such locations, that bears cannot reach them! A fed bear is a dead bear, and no one wants that on their conscience.

A less onerous issue is the swarms of honey bees that gather on the feeders during certain conditions such as drought, heavy rain which washes the nectar out of flowers, and this time of year when every creature is feeding heavily ahead of winter. Some people get totally freaked out about the bees. I just gently brush them from the feeders before taking them inside to wash and refill. Honey bees are non-violent. I’m also experimenting with different types of feeders because sometimes the bees cover the ports in such numbers that they block the hummers from feeding. So far I have found that feeders with no yellow are less attractive to bees, and bees are unable to feed from saucer-shaped feeders. Whatever you do, do NOT use oil of any sort on or anywhere around any bird feeders. Even if you see hummers feeding from feeders that someone put oil on, and the hummers seem fine, oil on their feathers is very bad, and often fatal to hummingbirds, and other avian buddies, too. And any oil around will end up ON the birds in the area. Say no to oil!

I offer sugar water, and plain water to the bees, in shallow dishes filled with small rocks for the bees to climb on. This is quite helpful in an effort to encourage them to leave the feeders. Bees are so important that we all need to provide them with all the help we can.

Ants can be a problem, and if they are on the feeder, they usually end up inside the feeder, thus ruining the hummer juice almost instantly. An easy fix is using a water-filled ant moat. They solve the problem, without causing further damage. Since most don’t have moats built-in, grab some of these to easily add them and protect the sugar solution.

So, get all the supplies ordered now, plant some perennials, plan for planting the annuals, and have a wonderful hummingbird season next year!!!! You’ll be charmed by their endless antics.

They also create innumerable opportunities for great photos, some with the hummers, somewhere they used to be, lol, thank goodness for digital cameras!

Hummingbirds know when to head south, so keep fresh sugar solution available until hard freezing weather threatens to split the feeders.

Btw, a group of hummingbirds is called a charm, which is possibly the most fitting of group names. :)