Hummingbirds do not instinctively recognize hummingbird feeders as a food source. Hummingbird feeders have not been around long enough for this to be the case. The first hummingbird feeder wasn’t for sale until 1950 when the Audubon Novelty Company of Medina, New York offered it for sale.
So, how do hummingbirds come to know the feeder as a food source? They must learn to do this and this happens by them watching other hummingbirds feed at it and through their own naturally inquisitive nature.
Do the hummingbirds that visit your feeders seem to favor one type of feeder over another? If so, thiis probably simply because it is the type the birds are most farmiliar with. Whenever you must replace a feeder or you just want to add a new one to your yard, the birds will probably not feed from it right away, but don’t worry they will eventually come to accept it and begin feeding from it. If you want to speed up the process of the birds feeding from the new feeder, it may help if you hang the old feeder, empty next to the new one. Then when the hummingbirds have found the new feeder and are feeding from it regularly, you can then remove the old hummingbird feeder.