It never gets old seeing wildlife in our yard, so Monica and I thought about putting up a hummingbird feeder outside our kitchens picture window so we could watch them while having our morning Baileys and coffee (don’t judge) and I’m so glad we did. There was one small problem though. We never had any kind of bird feeder let alone one for hummingbirds, so all these questions started running through my head. How do we get these little birds to come to our feeder? What kind of feeder should we buy? Can we buy hummingbird nectar, or should we make it? How much sugar do we add to the water? How about bees? This is when I researched everything I could find about hummingbirds. Let me tell you, I’m glad I did because there is more than just buying a feeder and hanging it up. If you don’t have this amazing little bird by your house/cabin but would like to, here is what I learned and gladly pass it on to you. Not all feeders are the same. There are bee proof feeders, but a lot of others that will work just fine.

Hummingbirds basically have no sense of smell but have great eye eyesight. They find flowers and will find your feeder based on color and that color is red, so obviously look for a feeder that is mostly red. For the nectar, it’s basically simple syrup commonly used in bars. You will be surprised on how much you can go through, so you might want to make larger baches. Believe this or not, hummingbirds consume half their body weight each day. For making the nectar, add 2 cups of white cane sugar to 8 cups of water in a pan and bring to a boil (2 minutes) while stirring. Once the sugar is dissolved, let it cool to room temperature, then put in whatever storage bottle the is easy to pour from and it’s ready to be served. DO NOT ADD FOOD COLORING OR ANY OTHER DYES, because this is why you bought a red feeder and use ONLY WHITE CANE SUGAR.  There is something about high iron content in other (artificial) sugars that hummingbirds can’t digest. If you put up a hummingbird feeder, don’t get discouraged if you don’t see them right away, because of the new location, it could take 3 days or even a week for them to locate their new home and they WILL return every day.

Here are a few cool facts on hummingbirds I thought you would like.

* Ruby-throated hummingbirds are the most common in Wisconsin
* Most do not, but some Ruby-throated are known to stay in Wisconsin year long. (but I’ve never seen this)
* Durning cooler mornings they will eat more to because their body works harder to stay warm.
* They drink the nectar by lapping (15 licks per second) up with their tongues and eat bugs for protein.
*  Because their brain size in comparison to their body is bigger than other birds, they are extremely intelligent.
* They are very territorial and will compete for food.
* Of all bird species, hummingbirds are the most aggressive to other birds, even attacking Blue Jays.
* Their wings flap 70 times per second when flying and 200 times when diving.
* Their heart beats 1200 time a minute when flying and 225 times at rest.
* They can’t walk or hop. but can fly up, down, backwards and even upside-down and can reach speeds up to 30mph.
*  Sometime between August and September, they migrate to Mexico (3000 miles) can fly 500 miles in one day.

So, buy a red hummingbird feeder, hang it outside your kitchen window and enjoy watching these amazing little birds while having a Bailys and coffee.