A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 new feeder

I was at Lowes today and saw this and HAD to get this. Its really pretty, isn't it?? Do you think it's too early to put nectar in it for where I live? Its been pretty nice lately....not really going below 50. Also, since its a closed feeder, do I need to change out the nectar daily still? and how to get it to turn red? just a couple drops of red food coloring?? I've never had feeders for hummers before!

Its not too early! Fill it up! I start putting mine out as soon as I know there won't be another hard freeze.
I clean and refill my feeders every few days on a rotation basis, but certainly not every day. (I have 14 feeders out so far, and that would be an all day job! :rolleyes: )
DO NOT add food coloring to the nectar!!!!
The Hummers will find your nice new feeder with clear food in it, just fine!
Hummer page

That's very pretty Jenn!!!

You can buy the powdered mix that you just add water too, that's what I do.

You could also tie some red ribbons on it like Cindy does so they find it easier.

It's not too early...I have 3 of mine out already!

One thing I'd suggest is not filling it all the way......I did when I first started feeding them, but it wasn't going by the time I had to clean it---every 4-5 days usually. So now I fill mine about half way.......Once you get a hang of how many hummers you get you might need to start filling it more, but it saves you from wasting too much food.

Did you check out the hummer migration map???? They're all around us!

Bill and Loz are right. Do NOT add food coloring to the nectar. Dissolve 1 part table sugar to 4 parts water. I heat my mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute to help the sugar dissolve in the water. As long as you have red on the feeder itself you will be fine. Hummingbirds are pretty much immune to cold AS LONG AS THEY HAVE NECTAR!!!!! Hummingbirds are all the way up to southern Canada now so you should see some soon. The males come north first as stragglers. The main body of females follow later. I am in Tennessee and have two feeders out but haven't seen a hummer yet although many people in my towwn have them already. As more arrive they will soon find my feeders. I expect them any day now.

Here is my new feeder. NO! NO! NOT THE HUMMER FEEDER! The one on the far left, Silly! The lantern-shaped, seed feeder. They have them at Dollar tree right now for, WHAT ELSE; $1.00 of course!

Some of my Feeders

I just bought that green lantern one for a buck down at the Dollar General for my 4 year old niece...plus a bag of birdseed.....so she can feed them at her own house.

And I have the other tube feeder you have too.

And the hummer feeder!

Love that feeder Jenn. Very pretty.

I havent seen any hummers yet. I'm in the Catskills in NY. We usually see the first one somewhere between 4/21 & 5/9.

You can also put a pot of red flowers near your new feeder so the humms can find it quicker.

I made some nectar that i found on sale at Lowes a few weeks ago. When I added the water, it turned bright orange! I was really surprised. So, I'll use that until the hummers find the feeder, then I'll switch to the sugar water formula

Sounds good to me, Hisgal

Maybe it was oriole nectar. thats orange. Homemade is good!

Last summer when I started to feed the humming birds I purchased some type of powder that mixed with water...kind of looked like red jello mix that was specifically for humming birds and they never came near the feeder.

Then I read to use the sugar water mixture that is listed above and they started coming by the feeder. Now we see all the time!!

The commercial nectar is NO GOOD!!! Use one part table sugar to four parts tap water. That is ALL YOU NEED and it is what hummers PREFER!