Category: Hummingbird Food

The hummingbird will feed quite frequently, between 5 and 8 times an hour according to one source or 7 to 10 times an hour according to another source.  Regardless of which source you believe, it is obvious that each feeding isn’t very long in length.  It has been said that hummingbirds only spend 30% of their time seeking nectar.  The remaining 70% of the hummingbird’s time is spent preening, singing and sunbathing. 

Do you find this information as surprising as I myself do? This just goes to show that while food is important to the hummingbird it isn’t the focus of the hummingbird’s entire day or existence.

Nectar is an excellent source of energy for a hummingbird.  To meet it’s daily energy needs the hummingbird will take in one and a half times its body weight per day.  The nectar that is taken in by the hummingbird will be digested in a very rapid and efficient manner and it will pass entirely through the hummingbird’s digestive system in less then 20 minutes! Isn’t that amazing?  Don’t you wish that humans could digest the food we eat as quickly as a hummingbird does?

Nectar is important to the hummingbird because it can provide a quick bust of energy but this doesn’t last very long.  Therefore, protein is of vital important to the hummingbird’s diet.  Recent studies have indicated that as much as half of the hummingbird’s diet consist of fruit flies, gnats, mosquitoes, aphids, spiders, caterpillars and insect eggs.

Someone who was out of granulated table sugar asked me "can’t I just substitute diluted honey in the hummingbird feeder?   Absolutely not!  This is what has prompted me to write this post as an important reminder to those wanting to fill their hummingbird feeders.  Never put honey in your hummingbird feeders!  The honey can develop a fungus that is fatal to hummingbirds.

The only thing that should be used to make homemade nectar is white granulated table sugar.  This is because its chemical composition is closest to the sugar concentration found in flower nectar.  If a flowers nectar concentration is less than 15% the hummingbirds will pass the flowers by because the hummingbirds want the sugar concentration to be around 25%.

No other sugars should be used to make homemade nectar solution.  Please do not use the following: diluted brown sugar,molasses, or artificial sweeteners.  These things can’t provide the hummingbirds with the sugar concentrations necessary for the birds to survive.

As someone who enjoys hummingbirds, I am often asked various questions on topics concerning hummingbirds.  Recently, someone once again asked me about how to make homemade nectar solution.  This is a subject that I thought I would once again take the opportunity to address.  Making your own hummingbird nectar is a very quick and inexpensive thing to do.  Therefore, it is no necessary to go out and purchase the ready made nectar solution.  So, here is the recipe to make homemade nectar solution. 

1. Mix together 1 part white table sugar (like you use in your cereal or coffee) and 4 parts water only.  Please do not use any other type of sugar or sugar substitute.  Bring this mixture to a boil for about a minute to help the sugar dissolve and also help kill any mold or bacteria that may be present.
2. Let the mixture cool completely and then fill and hang your feeders.
3. Any unused homemade nectar solution may be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
4. Please do not use red dye to color the nectar solution.  This is not necessary because the vast majority of the feeders on the market today have some amount of red on them and this will attract the birds.  Also, the use of red dye is believed to be harmful to the hummingbirds.

I hope that this simple recipe will encourage all of you who enjoy hummingbirds to make your own nectar solution.  By doing so you will be saving some money and you will help ensure that the birds will have a plentiful food source.