![]() ![]() Whether to add red dye to the sugar water has become somewhat controversial, Bryerton said, but it's not necessary. RELATED READING: HOW TO ATTRACT HUMMINGBIRDS TO YOUR YARD Allow it to cool before adding it to your feeder.Īlways use sugar to sweeten the nectar, never honey, which can allow the growth of bacteria and fungi. You can make larger or smaller batches, sticking with the ratio of 4 parts water and 1 part sugar. ![]() To make the nectar, simply bring 1 cup of water to a boil and then add 1/4 cup of sugar, mixing it until the sugar is completely dissolved, the Audubon Society advises. Don't try to make it different or better." "You're mimicking the nectar they get from flowers," Bryerton said of homemade hummingbird food. "Stick to what they are getting in the wild. Sugar water is close to what the birds eat when they visit flowers for nectar, said Bob Bryerton, an interpretive naturalist at the Forest Preserve District's Plum Creek Nature Center, where hummingbirds are regular visitors in the spring and summer. All it requires is two ingredients you surely already have on hand in your kitchen: water and sugar. You can aid their feeding frenzy by making your own nectar to put in feeders in your yard. The ruby-throated hummingbirds common in northern Illinois in late spring and summer weigh less than a nickel and can beat their wings an astonishing 53 times per second, according to the Cornell University Lab or Ornithology.Īll that activity requires a steady diet of nectar and insects, with hummingbirds feeding every 10 minutes to 15 minutes and making their way to between 1,000 and 2,000 flowers per day, the Audubon Society reports. Hummingbirds may be tiny, but they work up quite an appetite with all that fluttering and flapping of their wings.
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