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The sugar in flower nectar is primarily sucrose, like that of white sugar. So don't use honey in your feeder, which is primarily composed of fructose & glucose. Hummingbirds can't digest it as efficiently. Fermentation & mold growth also occurs faster in honey solutions than those made from granulated sugar. This mold (fungus) can give the hummingbirds a fatal tongue infection. Do not use artificial sweeteners either which provide no calories (no energy).
also read on Hummingbirds.net that Cane Sugar is preferred. Hummingbird Feeders
Well, this morning I walked into my kitchen around 7:30am and there was an oriole perched there on the hummingbird feeder drinking away, I had a 1/2 cup sugar to 2 cups water mix in there and he didn't seem to mind it at all. My mom said she had spotted two orioles sitting in my mulberry tree earlier in the week so I put out a few oranges for them today and their own feeder that I picked up at the hardware store. Funny thing was they still kept going to one of the glass ball hummingbird feeders that is hanging up against the side of the tree. It doesn't even have a perch but they were just hanging from the bark drinking out of it and ignoring the oriole feeder. I'm going to try to get some photos of them tomorrow. They are just gorgeous birds! I never had them in my other yards in NM.
When do the hummers normally show up here?
I figured it may be April or May but I could have sworn I saw one this morning and the weather has been in the 60's here so I didn't know if I should put my hummingbird food out or not.
When do you all usually put it out?
When do the hummers normally show up here?
I figured it may be April or May but I could have sworn I saw one this morning and the weather has been in the 60's here so I didn't know if I should put my hummingbird food out or not.
When do you all usually put it out?
You certainly could have seen one this morning. Hopefully he wasn't bothered by the dusting of snow we got. :P
I just check our time table at work on Wed. and we expect to start seeing them N. of SF in April...it think it was April 4th to be exact.
We were just talking about them this morning because the bees have been thick in my trees that are blooming these last 2 wks, and I said I was going to wait to put out my feeders until probably April. Does everyone make their own sugar water or do you buy the red stuff at WMart? I used to do the red stuff but a friend of mine said her uncle studied birds and the red stuff supposedly causes damage to their livers. That was when I started making my own stuff.
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