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Old 07-31-2018, 09:48 PM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
36,499 posts, read 53,933,224 times
Reputation: 47917

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I try to spread this information to everybody who claims TO LOVE HUMMINGBIRDS but there are still stores which still sell the "hummingbird food" and encourage patrons to buy it.

https://www.facebook.com/helpsaveour...04872742889783
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Old 08-01-2018, 06:35 AM
 
Location: The Driftless Area, WI
7,181 posts, read 5,033,283 times
Reputation: 17559
All good scientists are skeptics. I just looked up "iron in brown sugar"-- 1.6 mg per 220,000 mg (1 cup) sugar. Even allowing for hepatic accumulation and the theoretically possible pathology (hemosiderosis) that could ensue, I have to wonder about the actual risk of this occurring in vivo.



[for comparison, in humans, each ml of blood contains ~1.5mg of Fe; let's say a hummingbird is similar and has 5 cc of blood, then it would have to drink 5 feeder-fulls of food made with 1 cup of brown sugar/4 cups water to replace it's blood Fe supply.]



Searching for papers on hemosiderosis in hummingbrds, I found none in the first five pages of references listing hemosiderosis, but did come across this "Fact Check" from Snopes https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dye-cast/


Apparently there is no evidence whatsoever that food coloring has any deleterious effect.



As the Snopes piece states, you don't need the dye, but it probably isn't doing any harm either.
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Old 08-01-2018, 06:41 AM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,775,613 times
Reputation: 30347
Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu View Post
I try to spread this information to everybody who claims TO LOVE HUMMINGBIRDS but there are still stores which still sell the "hummingbird food" and encourage patrons to buy it.

https://www.facebook.com/helpsaveour...04872742889783


Thanks no kudzu...I can see why giving any of those substances could be harmful. I've never used red solution...

they find the feeder without any means of enticement
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Old 08-01-2018, 07:31 AM
 
Location: Boonies of N. Alabama
3,881 posts, read 4,103,596 times
Reputation: 8156
I never have. Don't put too much sugar in either... they can get a fungal infection on their tongue which makes it swell and it kills them.
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Old 08-01-2018, 07:53 AM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,775,613 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by writerwife View Post
I never have. Don't put too much sugar in either... they can get a fungal infection on their tongue which makes it swell and it kills them.
Oh no! Glad you mentioned it...
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Old 08-01-2018, 10:13 AM
 
Location: The Driftless Area, WI
7,181 posts, read 5,033,283 times
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We have a half dozen double or quadruple Shepherd Hook poles for bird feeders, including two hummingbird feeders and 4 or 5 hanging flower baskets on them. Hummingbirds (& bees & butterflies) regularly make the rounds of the flowers, spending several minutes at a time there, but only occasionally take a quick lick at the feeders. (Maybe the wife is a bad cook?) Feeders probably don't form a large part of the hummingbirds' diet, and if you're making your own sugar solution, why bother with the dye?
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Old 08-01-2018, 10:24 AM
 
3,211 posts, read 2,961,770 times
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I would never put dye in their feeders, because I myself wouldn't want to drink red dye all day long. Doesn't matter if someone says it is harmful, and someone else says it isn't harmful; I'd never do it either way.

Plus, it is absolutely not necessary to put dye in their feeders.
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Old 08-01-2018, 10:39 AM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,775,613 times
Reputation: 30347
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldgardener View Post
I would never put dye in their feeders, because I myself wouldn't want to drink red dye all day long. Doesn't matter if someone says it is harmful, and someone else says it isn't harmful; I'd never do it either way.

Plus, it is absolutely not necessary to put dye in their feeders.


Yeah. Done.
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Old 08-01-2018, 01:00 PM
 
9 posts, read 6,648 times
Reputation: 38
If the red dye is used, when they poop, they leave little red spots all over your patio furniture. It is impossible to clean it! So, that is a reason not to use the dye, even if it does not cause the birds harm.
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Old 08-01-2018, 01:44 PM
 
4,286 posts, read 4,736,676 times
Reputation: 9639
No need for the red dye. There is no reason to add chemicals to what you're feeding them.

Also don't use organic sugar to make the sugar water. It could be lethal.

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/may...tacularhttp://
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