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Subject: Re: Hummingbird feeder -- So What's a Mother To Do?
From: Joy Williams <hummer13@mindspring.com>
Organization: MindSpring Enterprises
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 99 07:58:11
Message-ID: <MOD$990815.28519@rec.gardens.ecosystems>
References: <MOD$990807.11725@rec.gardens.ecosystems> <MOD$990808.20115@rec.gardens.ecosystems>



Lots of Confusion out there, this is what I've discovered through research over
the years:

Food: 4 parts water to one part white sugar.
Make sure you bring it to a boil and let it boil it for at least 30 seconds.I've
heard two minutes but this brings the amount down too much and may increase the
sugar consistency. I then put it in a glass jar and refrigerate it till cool. I
usually make 6 cups at a time.

RE: Red Food Dye: The Court is out on this, because they've not studied the
effect on hummingbirds and the red dye, but there is concern it might cause liver
damage.

Whatever the case, if you have a brightly red bottom at the end of the feeder
where they feed, then the birds will be attracted anyway, so why buy expensive
food? Make no mistake! These birds are VERY, VERY smart.

As to: buying food fortified with vitamins, etc (which also usually contain the
red food dye). There is really no indication that they need it. They get plenty
of nutrients from the nectars they eat, and the INSECTS.... (yes they eat insects
:) I dare you to watch them catch one! ). Dont let the Hummer Food companies persuade you otherwise.

Whatever you do DO NOT sweeten your feeder with honey. This ferments rather
quickly, and you can not only make the birds drunk, you can poison and even kill
them. As much as it may seem unhealthful, the best sugar we have for making food
for them is white sugar.

Of course ultimately the best thing you can POSSIBLY do is to have feeders, (yes,
as I do, all out of site of each other), but even more importantly to plant
flowers they adore. And it's not that hard to find ones they like. I've planted
salvia, penstemon, fuchsias, nasturtiums, petunias that I know they love, and all
kinds of other varieties of flowers that I didn't think they liked. They of
course gravitate to the long tubular flowers, partially because the flowers, many
of these are made for a hummer's beak, in fact, there are some flowers that have
evolved and can only be pollinated by the hummers....Nature is amazing. However,
I've planted a lot of varieties and low and behold they go to those too,
especially at the dusk hours when the birds are gathering their strength for
their evening coma, er torpor. The other night, at dusk, my husband and I were
watching the hummers (we have probably close to 50 around here on our 30 acres if
not more) and we noticed one female.... she was hitting every SINGLE plant that
had a flower, and every single flower on every plant! Scabiosa, penstemon,
lilly, nasturtium, johnny jumpup, pansey, coreopsis, Fuchsia, the flowers on the
pepper and tomato plants, the strawberry flowers, and the feeder when the male
didn't chase her off.

The females around here really like the budlea (butterfly Bush) I have though we
hack it back every year because it gets way too big, we don't until it's done
flowering because it's one of the longest flowering plants they love and it's in
a place the males don't watch. The males take proprietory rights over the feeder
and though they are the prettiest, without the females the species wouldn't
survive long. And the females are equally lovely just different.

They are amazing animals, Nature Girl, and will fill your garden and your life
with delight, so please plant flowers too. If you treat the flowers organically,
you will not only attract the hummers, but bees, and butterflies! A good sign of
a healthy garden ecosystem is hummers, butterflies, bees, ladybugs and
spiders....

Good luck, and if you have questions about hummers, email me, I'm an amateur
freak about them:
hummer13@mindspring.com
http://www.dancinghummingbird.com/joyw/hummingpages.html
A good site about hummers: http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org
If you want to subscribe to "The SpiritGarden Email List" email me directly.