How Do You Make Hummingbird Nectar
Hummingbirds are truly fascinating to watch. Between their ability to hover and fly backward, beautiful coloring, and wings that beat so fast they create the humming sound they’re named after, these small creatures can be a welcome guest in any backyard or garden. But to keep their energy level up they need to eat often, which is where having a feeder full of DIY hummingbird food helps them receive the nutrients they need and attracts them to your yard for your enjoyment. Use the simple formula for hummingbird feeders below to make your own mixture.
- Combine 4 parts water to 1 part white granulated sugar in a pot. It’s important that you only use white granulated sugar. Honey, brown sugar, molasses or sugar substitutes aren’t easy for hummingbirds to digest and will spoil more quickly in the heat.
- Heat the water to help dissolve the sugar. Ensure the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to completely cool before adding it to your feeder.
- Add your homemade hummingbird nectar to the feeder. Refrigerate any unused nectar.
Make sure you change the nectar every 2-4 days and wash the feeder each time to prevent bacteria from growing. Not doing so can kill hummingbirds.
Also, adding red dye to your hummingbird nectar is not recommended. It could be potentially harmful to the birds and has no nutritional value. You can use feeders with red floral decorations or other red parts to attract them instead, as well as other ideas found in our How to Attract Hummingbirds article.