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ADHD/Diabetic Hummingbirds
- Thread starter TR6BILL
- Start date
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I love hummingbird feeders! My parents have had them set up for years around their houses. I also have one, and a few hummies which hang out around my apartment but for whatever reason, they refuse to stop at my feeder. Maybe there is just more than enough food for them that they can't be bothered flying up to the third floor!
As long as the sugar dissolves into the water it should not be a problem. However DON'T add the red food coloring. It does not do the birds the slightest bit of good.
As long as the sugar dissolves into the water it should not be a problem. However DON'T add the red food coloring. It does not do the birds the slightest bit of good.
PC
Obi Wan
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Everything I’ve ever read about hummingbirds says the red dye is basically useless. Some suggest that it might even be harmful but I’ve never heard of specific evidence to support that.
Hummers around here have no trouble finding our feeders without dye and guzzling down <span style="font-style: italic">gallons</span> of juice. Since dye does no good, costs money and makes a mess why bother?
I thought I remembered reading somewhere that over-concentrated solutions could be potentially harmful but I’ve never been able to find that again. I do keep reading over and over again that “No research has shown that higher concentrations are harmful to hummingbirds.” So at least the anecdotal “data” suggests that the birds will be OK.
Higher concentrations will spoil faster and be messier.
They drain the feeders fast enough that we’ve backed off to a 1:6 solution (by volume, instead of the commonly suggested 1:4). They guzzle just as much but we go through less sugar and keeping the feeders clean is less work. (They do like a clean feeder. If you ever hear somebody complain the birds don’t come around ask when they last cleaned their feeder. The usual response is something like; “Clean the feeder?”)
Going the other way, there is research that shows that they can easily handle very dilute solutions (although they may not be as attracted to them). https://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/202/20/2851.pdf
PC.
Hummers around here have no trouble finding our feeders without dye and guzzling down <span style="font-style: italic">gallons</span> of juice. Since dye does no good, costs money and makes a mess why bother?
I thought I remembered reading somewhere that over-concentrated solutions could be potentially harmful but I’ve never been able to find that again. I do keep reading over and over again that “No research has shown that higher concentrations are harmful to hummingbirds.” So at least the anecdotal “data” suggests that the birds will be OK.
Higher concentrations will spoil faster and be messier.
They drain the feeders fast enough that we’ve backed off to a 1:6 solution (by volume, instead of the commonly suggested 1:4). They guzzle just as much but we go through less sugar and keeping the feeders clean is less work. (They do like a clean feeder. If you ever hear somebody complain the birds don’t come around ask when they last cleaned their feeder. The usual response is something like; “Clean the feeder?”)
Going the other way, there is research that shows that they can easily handle very dilute solutions (although they may not be as attracted to them). https://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/202/20/2851.pdf
PC.