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Hummingbird Feeders Hummingbird Food

Why Hummingbirds Aren’t Visiting Your Feeders

Many people who put up hummingbird feeders may still not be attracting the birds or maybe they were at one time attracting the birds only to have them stop visiting their feeders. This is a situation that can be very complex. The information which follows should offer some insight into this matter.
 
One explanation could be that you live in an area that is a poor hummingbird habitat. This simply means that you live in an area that has few flowers, trees, or shrubs that hummingbirds like and therefore few of the birds visit the area.
 
Another explanation is that you live in too good a habitat. If there are too many plants, flowers, or shrubs in your area which attract hummingbirds, then the birds may have no need to visit the feeders in the area. Simply put, the natural food supply is available with such abundance that alternate food sources aren’t necessary. 
 
There may be hummingbirds in the area but they may not be interested in your feeders. It is possible for individual hummingbirds to develop their own particular feeding patterns and be influenced by their prior experiences.
 
Another simple explanation why there are no hummingbirds at your feeder is because it is breeding season. The birds may have gone elsewhere to do their breeding.
 
The feeding solution in your feeder may have fermented or gone sour. Generally speaking, the feeder should be cleaned every two to three days. In very hot weather, which is considered to be temperatures above 60 degrees F., feeders should be cleaned every two days, and then fresh sugar solution should be added. If you leave your feeders empty for too long or if your feeding solution has gone bad and you don’t change it out with fresh solution, then the birds may not return because of this.
 
You also may not be looking when the hummingbirds arrive. If there are few hummingbirds in your area, it would be quite easy for you to miss seeing them because they spend very little amounts of their time feeding.
 
Hummingbird feeders are a very common way to try and attract these birds. In order to draw hummingbirds to your feeders, you will want to hang the feeders near nectar-rich flowers, shrubs, and trees that the hummingbirds are instinctively drawn towards. Then you will have the best of all possible worlds, because the birds can choose between your hummingbird feeders or the flowers, trees, and shrubs that attract them.

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