What's the best way to feed hummingbirds?

A 3-gram bird that can hover, fly backward, beat its wings 50 times per second, migrate 3000 miles between Canada and Mexico twice every year, and cope with more G force than a fighter pilot. 

Hovering to harvest nectar from a zinnia-photo A Reago & C McClarren

Hummingbirds are beautiful and impressive birds that are thrilling to see in your yard. No wonder lots of people try out hummingbird feeders. My friend Jennifer asked about these feeders last week in response to my post about feeding birdseed to backyard birds. Are hummingbird feeders sparrow-proof and safe?

     Hummingbirds are nectar feeders, which is why you can supplement their food with sugar water. They like pink, orange and red trumpet-shaped blossoms that accommodate their long beaks. 

Ruby-throated hummingbirds like this one inhabit the eastern US

A hummingbird visits up to 2000 flowers per day. As it harvests nectar, it acts as an important pollinator. It can also pluck flying insects from the air, and nestlings are fed exclusively on insects.

Hummingbirds feeding insects to their chick

     Ornithologists say it's OK to put out hummingbird feeders, but they also suggest planting flowers that feed hummingbirds. You can create artificial nectar by combining tap water and white table sugar at one cup of water to 1/4 cup of sugar and boiling the solution for a couple of minutes. Using honey, brown sugar, or molasses is potentially dangerous, and red food coloring is unnecessary. Typical feeder ports are ringed in red and yellow glass or plastic flower-like decorations to attract hummingbirds. 

The feeders are definitely sparrow-proof but could attract other nectar feeders, such as orioles. I read that placing several small feeders at a distance from each other is better than hanging one with many ports, because the hummingbirds are territorial and will fight each other for access.

     Maintaining a hummingbird feeder is a heavy responsibility. The sugar water quickly becomes moldy, contaminated with bacteria, or fermented, so you need to change it and wash the feeder thoroughly every other day, daily in hot weather. It should hang in the shade to keep the “nectar” fresh longer. You can’t run the feeder through the dishwasher, because soap is potentially harmful to hummingbirds. You’re supposed to wash it with a bottle brush and a vinegar solution. This means the best feeder is one that’s very easy to disassemble and clean.

     I’ve tried a couple of these feeders, and I have to admit that I didn’t keep up with the washing schedule. That means I put visiting hummingbirds at risk for infection. I also never saw a hummingbird using the feeders.

     Instead of trying to keep up with cleaning a feeder, I’m planning to work on offering more red and orange trumpet-shaped flowers near the house, where I’ll have a chance to see hummingbirds if they come. I did have one glorious sighting last summer, a visitor to an anise-scented sage (Salvia guaranitica) I grew in a pot on the deck. 

Even though they're blue, these long-throated flowers attracted a hummingbird

At Jennifer’s house, we spotted a hummingbird feeding on her very floriferous trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). 

Honeysuckles are popular with hummingbirds

Let's hope our flowers make us good hosts. Here’s a link to a list of flowers that hummingbirds like.