That’s all it takes for the majority of us to run through the house in search of our hummingbird feeders and that red liquid. Some of you may mix your own, it’s 1 part granulated white sugar to 4 parts water, boiled for 3 or 4 minutes, then cooled. It doesn’t have to be red, red food coloring can be harmful and isn’t necessary to attract the birds. I like to use the pre-packaged concoction from Perky Pet (when I have some). I remember last year when all the stores ran out and I had to make my own.
We absolutely love sitting out on the deck in the morning or in the evening just watching them feeding and crossing back and forth in front of us from one feeder to the other. It never fails, there will be one very dominant hummer, usually a female, who will keep all the other hungry critters away from her feeder. She’s not necessarily hungry, she will just sit perched on top of the bracket and dive bomb any other hummers who come along. There’s nothing you can do about this behavior, just hang out more feeders!
Enjoy them, they won’t be around too much longer, maybe through October. Be sure to clean out your feeders and fill them with more liquid every 5 days, they’ll need a lot of energy to make it across the Gulf to winter in Mexico and northern Central America.
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