Home Made Hummingbird Nectar

A Little History Lesson

Humming birds are in North America from spring to late summer while flowers and plants are blooming and blossoming. Once plants begin to go dormant for the winter season, these little birds head toward South America where plant life is still blooming. Humming birds live off of insects, water and nectar. Nectar is a sugary liquid (glucose) given off by plants during growing seasons attracting many pollinators to this nectar. (A good visual example of nectar is that little liquid drop on a honeysuckle that you loved to taste as a kid.) As the pollinators such as insects and hummingbirds feed on the nectar they carry the pollen, which is the male genetic material of a plant to other plants allowing fertilization of plants. This is a very important process needed for plant life growth.

So if you want to draw this beautiful little bird to your windows or feeders, you will need to create a similar sugary liquid for the Hummingbird to feast on!

The Recipe

Ingredients: Water, Granulated Sugar

Step 1. Begin to boil 4 cups of water on your stove.

Step 2. As the water comes to a boil, start to slowly add 1 cup of sugar to the boiling water as you gently stir the sugar, water mixture as it dissolves.

Step 3. Once the 1 cup of sugar has dissolved into boiling water, set aside on your stove to let cool to room temperature.

Step 4. Once the sugar water has reached the room temperature, now add the liquid into your Hummingbird feeder and place in your desired location.

***People have added red food coloring to their mixture for aesthetic appeal, however this is unnecessary and could harm your hummingbirds. So please leave your mixture clear.

Step 5. Any remaining sugar, water mixture can be place into your freridgerator for a few days for keeping. Remember when refilling feeders to make sure they are regularly cleaned to prevent bacteria growth from harming your Hummingbirds.

To see a few Hummingbird feeders we recommend jump on over to our "Best Hummingbird Feeders" article.

Enjoy your beautiful Hummingbirds!

Thank you for reading,

EasyLawns