Hummingbird Nectar

Hummingbirds are one of the most popular birds in the world and I'm sure most of you already know what makes them so popular, as you must have reached this page because you want to attract one of the most beautiful creations of God, the Hummingbirds. It's simply delightful to watch them hover around and see them performing acrobatics in the air. Flying backwards is a skill that only hummingbirds master in or are blessed with. These bright and colorful hummingbirds have particular food habits and could be called picky and choosy while in search of their nectar.

Bird watching is a pleasurable experience and even more when you watch hummingbirds visiting your garden and feed on homemade hummingbird food recipes that you exclusively prepared for them. Hummingbirds as we all know love to drink nectar, but did you know that they also avoid certain flower types producing nectar? That's right, they reject those flowers with less than 10% sugar content and are always on the look out of something that's sweeter. Sweet is the thing for these sweet little birds! So if you'd want hummingbirds hovering around your garden throughout then you must have the perfect recipe for them to enjoy and pay frequent visits.

Recipe for Making Nectar

Recipes for hummingbird nectar are quite simple but what's crucial is the proportion of the ingredients. There are only two basic ingredients, water and sugar. Of course what else could be in a nectar! Yet the ready-made mixes come with added color or dye, as most of us believe that hummingbirds get attracted towards colors, which is indeed true but all one needs to do in order to attract hummingbirds is, place bright bird feeders in different locations in the garden.

To make the nectar, the ratio of water to white sugar should be 4:1 that means one cup of sugar to four cups of water. Once you have right quantities of both the ingredients, mix them together and leave it to boil for 1 to 2 minutes so that the sugar dissolves in the water. Remove it from fire and let it cool completely. The last step is filling the feeders. The solution will not be needed all at once so, after taking the required amount the remaining can be left in the refrigerator until the next time.

Points to Remember

Given below are some important points that need to be considered while making the perfect nectar.

• Do not substitute white sugar with molasses, honey, brown sugar or any artificial sugar substitutes as the other forms of sugar are not easily digestible for hummingbirds and also because they chances of fermenting quickly as a result creating a mold that is dangerous to hummingbirds.
• To make pure nectar, avoid using tap water with high chemical content. Instead use purified or bottled water or boil the water before adding sugar to it.
• Remember, a highly sweet nectar is also not easily digestible by hummingbirds and therefore try and stick with 4:1 ratio.
• Allow the water sugar solution to cool off completely before filling the feeders as hot nectar or solution could crack the feeders and also quicken the fermenting procedure.
• The unused or remaining nectar can be stored in the refrigerator and would be in good enough for reuse.
• Hummingbird feeders need to be cleaned once in a week if not more. However, if many birds are using the feeder or if the weather is too warm then it is advisable to clean them frequently.

I hope the recipe for homemade hummingbird nectar given in the article has made you believe how simple it is to make it at home and also the fact that one does not need to rely on commercial nectar mixes that claim to offer a number of nutrients to hummingbird feeders. The only reliable and nutritional hummingbird food mixture is the pure nectar made freshly at home without any extra additives.