Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hummingbirds

I just put my feeders out. I've heard a few, they're coming.

You'll rot their teeth out.

I'm going to pour 2.5% peritoneal dialysis solution in a feeder and see if they'll go for it. I have about 200 2-liter bags taking up space.

First ones yesterday here in southwest Wisconsin, also first Orioles

Had our first Oriole yesterday here in the Northwoods. Also a male Evening Grosbeak. Going to put out some orange halves full of jelly today. Hummingbirds are a little late.

We get a Grosbeak occasionally, but not too often. Migrating I guess. miles

They can have implants

What about cardinals? My wife is thrilled that we have a pair about.

We always have Cardinals at our sunflower seed feeders year-round. They are one of the most common song birds around my part of the country.

Red breasted Grosbeaks are passing through here now too. Some years Indigo Buntings pass through along with the Grosbeaks.

I have a lot of Cardinals and Tit mice.

Our Goldfinch feeder pretty well stays busy most days this time of the year, too. Goldfinch and Hummingbird feeder are the only feeders that the Starlings can't feed from. If they could they figure out how to they would hog over them like they do regular seed feeders.

The hovering little gluttons are emptying two feeders (one a half quart) a day. Freeloaders.

Had one buzzing in the ceiling of my greenhouse. It was too stupid to fly down and out the door. Just kept pinging off the ceiling panel for a couple hours. If it wouldve came out, I was going to give it a load of #6

Not worth shooting a little Hummingbird. You will put holes in your greenhouse. They are fun to watch, so let them fly around. We get dozens of them in Northern Wisconsin in the summer. Amazing little bugger;s when you look at how far they migrate every year. I lived in Illinois for years and never saw one until I retired up here

slumlord,
you may want to check with a local university or fish and game bird biologist, there's stuff in this brand (don;t know which one you have) that might not be good for them. Generally, they use nectar from flowers and sugar (sucrose) for energy and water solutions mimic that. Not sure what sodium lactate and the salts in the dialysis sol'n will do to them. You may end up with dead birds around your feeder or none coming back the next day;

http://www.baxterhealthcare.com.au/downloads/healthcare_professionals/cmi_pi/dianeal_pi.pdf

I have seen over the years honey is not recommended either.

Plain sugar, no coloring.

I saw the first hummer for my area yesterday and again today.

Geno

We have cardinals like some people have mice. Beautiful birds, but not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Every year one or two suicide against my storm door, even with UV "leaves" stuck to the glass. I finally hung a fancy Chinese doodad in front to ward them off.

Success! Hummers are back.

It seems that the birds don't like the commercial made necter, especially when it was left over from last season. Went the sugar - water route and they finally came back.

That commercial stuff is vile. Never use it. Also never use anything but cane sugar. Honey is bad for them, for example. You also don't need coloring if there is any red on the feeder itself.

I'm sure it's in the thread and I've missed it but what is the mixture you guys are using for your hummingbirds?


Thanks

You'll find recipes anywhere from 2-1 to 4-1 water-sugar Anything more than the 4-1 ratio and you'll have to boil it to get the sugar dissolved. The birds don't seem to care. My small feeders hold 8 oz of water and I use a quarter cup of sugar in hot water from the tap. My quart feeder gets a cup of sugar if I fill it. I usually fill it only halfway to keep the mix fresher, though.

The birds carry molds, yeasts, and bacteria on their beaks, so your nectar can get funky if it sits too long in the feeder. When mine start to show black mold or such inside, I give them an alcohol rinse or a weak bleach rinse, and then multiple hot water rinses to get the chemicals out before refilling them. My Best-1 feeders completely disassemble, so that allows me to clean the insides of them, also. It's a major reason why I recommend Best-1 feeders.