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Hummingbird Feeders Hummingbird Food

How Quickly Does Nectar Spoil?

How quickly the nectar will spoil in your hummingbird feeder depends on what the temperature is outside.  If the temperature is 80 degrees or over, you will then need to change the nectar solution and refill the feeder every three to four days.  If the temperature reaches 90 degrees or above, then that may need to be done every two days or so.

If your nectar solution appears cloudy then the solution has spoiled and must be changed.  You will also need to change the nectar solution and clean the feeder if it appears to have black mold in it. 

Maintaining a hummingbird feeder is a simple and easy way to attract hummingbirds, but doing so comes with the responsibility of properly maintaining the feeder.  Do so and you will help ensure the heath and safety of the hummingbirds as well as also being able to continually enjoy the birds’ presence in your yard for sometime to come.

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Hummingbird Food

The Daily Calorie Needs of a Hummingbird

Have you ever considered how many calories per day a hummingbird requires in order to  survive?  The answer may surprise you as it did me.  According to the website Nectar Art Prints.Com, on an average 12 hour day, a hummingbird weighing 10 grams, such as a male Anna’s Hummingbird, will require a whopping 6,660 calories per day in order to survive.  Wow, that is a lot of calories for such an extremely tiny bird!  The hummingbird will expend more then 1/3 of that amount while hovering during their efforts to gather food.

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Hummingbird Feeders Hummingbird Food

Put Only Cool Nectar Solution In Feeder

Never put hot homemade nectar solution in a hummingbird feeder!  That is a common sense statement, right?  Well, apparently not everyone knows this, because I myself have been asked about this numerous times.  The nectar solution must be cooled before placing it in the hummingbird feeder.  Here’s why.

If the nectar solution is too hot when you attempt to fill the hummingbird feeder, there is a good chance that this will cause the tank of the hummingbird feeder to break and this could cause serious injury to the person who is attempting to fill the feeder.  They may either be cut as a result of the broken glass or they may be burned as a result of the hot liquid getting on them. 

An unsuspecting hummingbird could burn its tongue on the hot liquid.  This would cause harm to the hummingbird and probably cause the birds to no longer trust your feeders as a reliable and safe food source. 

Making homemade nectar solution is a simple and easy way to attract hummingbirds, but I hope you now understand why it is vitally important to let the nectar solution cool completely before filling your feeders.

 

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Hummingbird Videos

Singing Hummingbird at 9 Months Old

This video is of North America’s only singing hummingbird.  Do you know what species holds that distinction?  Watch this short video and discover this and a few other fascinating fats about this bird.

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Hummingbird Pictures

Female Rufous Hummingbird

Here is some information that will help you identify the female Rufous Hummingbird. The written information for this post comes from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  I am also including a photo of a female Rufous Hummingbird to help you lean to identify this bird. 
 
The female of this species is green above with rufous-washed flanks, rufous patches in the green tail, and often a spot of orange in the throat.

 Rufous Hummingbirds choose to breed in open areas, yards, parks, and forests up to tree line level. On their migratory path they will pass through mountain meadows which are as high as 12,600 feet where nectar-rich, tubular flowers are blooming. Their winter habitat is in Mexico and includes shrubby openings and oak-pine forests at middle to high elevation.

Female Rufous Hummingbird.jpg