Paul David, You will get more visits per hummer with the weak mixes, but it may not be the best thing for them, especially for nesting females. This was posted here about 2 years ago: stronger solutions help mama hummingbird Posted by carolreese z7 TN (My Page) on Tue, Apr 21, 09 at 14:44 I meet with lots of resistance on this topic, but let me stress that I have read many scientific papers on hummingbird feeding and metabolism before I began making my solution 1 part sugar to 2 parts water. I will mention the scientific studies throughout, so that you may do your own investigations. First of all, make it easy on yourself, you do not need to boil the water. The sugar will melt with a little extra stirring, and the solution will not be prevented from spoiling by boiling it. The first hummer to stick his tongue in it introduces microbes. Of course, the feeders should be cleaned and refilled anytime you see cloudiness, usually every few days. If you read the studies, you will find that many of the flowers that hummingbirds prefer have nectar concentrations anywhere from thirty percent sugar to an astounding forty-three percent (jewelweed). Some of the desert salvias have even higher concentrations. Here is a link that will list a number of studies on this topic. http://www.springerlink.com/content/r12612v82625n115/ Researchers found that some of the "hummingbird flowers" that have lower sugar concentrations, are that way in order to discourage bees, which on certain floral structures are NOT good pollinators. Apparently the flower needs hummingbird business but not bees. If you average the sugar concentrations of the flowers a hummingbird visits, it runs around 31-33%. For starters, I recommend reading a report by two scientists, Hainsworth and Wolf, biologists with Syracuse University. They studied the feeding habits of hummingbirds presented with different sugar solutions. They found that a hummingbird takes in about the same amount of calories per hour. If the solution is strong, they visit the feeder just a few times an hour. If the solution is weak, the birds visit much more often to take in the same number of calories. Here is the link. http://www.hummingbirds.net/hainsworth.html Hummingbirds are actually insectivores, but require a lot of sugar to fuel their search, and fuel is the operative word. A hummingbird must take in an enormous amount of nectar, several times its body its body weight each day. The feeding day is a balance between energy expended for the calories gained. That�s one reason hummingbirds prefer feeders with perches. In fact, hummingbirds spend as much as 80% of the day perched, conserving their energy. After learning this, I began making my solutions stronger, two parts water to one part sugar, or about 33%. Those who insist a solution this strong is dangerous, must be unaware of this study, or aren�t thinking it through. The little birds are eating the SAME AMOUNT of sugar per hour, they just don�t have to work so hard to get it. I feel entirely comfortable making my sugar solutions stronger after reading that hummingbirds take in about the same amount of calories per hour regardless of the strength of the sugar solution. Weaker solutions just make the hummingbird visit the feeder more often, making it work harder, burn more fuel...and no, a thicker syrup is NOT hard for the hummers to lap up, this is another of those silly unfounded claims. I want to make the case for a stronger solution helping out the mama hummer. She is a single mom, getting absolutely no help from the male. She alone incubates the eggs, and has only a few minutes away from them each hour to feed. Once the eggs hatch, she must struggle to keep the hatchlings fed as well, regurgitating nectar and small insects, as well as meet her own needs. A stronger solution means she has to work a little less hard. Also realize that all hummingbirds actually need to put on weight later in the summer to bulk up for the coming migratory flight. Hummingbirds drop about 40% of their body weight during the flight south to Central America. Speaking at a conference in Pennsylvania a few years ago, I made my case for stronger sugar solutions to an audience that apparently did not take it well. A few days after returning home, I received a scolding email stating that my recommendations were dangerous for hummingbirds. One of the claims made in the email was that the hummingbirds might become diabetic. Apparently this person did not know about the study done by Dr. James Hargrove in Georgia that explored the reasons hummingbirds were able to take in so much sugar without becoming diabetic. You can read about it here. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1325055 Another claim made in the email was that the hummingbirds would need straight water after drinking such a rich mixture and would sip from puddles that might contain pesticides or radiator fluid, poisoning the thirsty little birds. Apparently they did not know about the studies by Drs. Hiebert and Calder, among others, that discussed the problems created by too much water intake. It seems that maintaining a balance of necessary minerals and salts is difficult for a bird that must drink so much fluid throughout the feeding day. Dilute nectar results in more frequent urination which results in loss of minerals and salts, just as you would lose electrolytes if you drank excessive amounts of water. Hummingbirds have occasionally been observed (Adams and Des Lauriers) licking soil, that was later tested and found to have high levels of phosphorous, potassium and calcium. Hmm, seems like a weaker solution is more likely to have birds licking up dangerous compounds, rather than the opposite - though that claim was ludicrous from the start. I was also scolded for using more sugar since that might cause more land to go into sugar production. This is where I realize this person did not even understand the first study I recommended she read - where Hainsworth's research showed that the hummingbird will take in the same amount, I repeat, the same amount of sugar each hour, it is just that it takes fewer visits if the sugar mixture is richer. Maybe she can't understand that means that I am not using more sugar, I am just making the hummers caloric needs easier to satisfy. Of course the amount of sugar I use in my feeders compared to the sugar in the soft drinks, candy and cookies in this country is miniscule, so that objection was laughable to start with. It�s astonishing how some people react to new information, especially information that may question long held beliefs. When I asked the person who wrote the email for references to back her claims, she quoted several "hummingbird experts", people who had written books, for example. When I pressed her for the science that supported their recommendations, there was no response. I supplied her with my references, and hoped to hear that she�d learned from their research. I�m still holding my breath.

Hi rembetika and welcome! With respect to refilling - it all depends on your weather (temperature, humidity in particular) and where the feeder is hung (sun or shade). When it's cooler, the sugar/water can often be just fine for a number of days. But when it's hot and humid, this encourages bacteria to grow (often introduced by the birds themselves) and that can spoil the solution - even if it doesn't appear to be cloudy as yet. When it's cloudy, that's often after the bacteria colony has multiplied so much that they visibly cloud the solution with their numbers. I think putting it through the dishwasher might depend on whatever you use for detergent and whether it is actually rinsed well to get any residue out - particularly since some of the smaller glass ones have a pinched neck and may not get rinsed as well as say a drinking glass. With respect to the sugar - plain white granualated table (cane) sugar is fine. Other types such as turbinado or lesser processed cane sugar with molasses isn't recommended. The "hummingbird sugar" sold commercially is often sold with a dye (FD&C Red 40), where the long-term effects of that on this bird is unknown and thus it's not recommended. Plus the commercial products like that end up costing more than plain cane sugar anyway, so might as well go with something very simple.

Lisa, I'm so sorry to hear about the hummingbird, but wanted to share some of my experiences working with hummers in an aviary. It's hard for us to know what was wrong with her, so it's entirely possible that there was absolutely nothing you could have done that would have made a difference. It sounds like she may have been pretty sick. On the other hand, if you ever see such a sight again, I would like to suggest something you might try. Place her in your cupped hands, and blow some warm air onto her. Sometimes, birds can go into a torpor, but may recover if they are given a warm environment and food. When I worked at the aviary, sometimes I would encounter a bird that looked like a total goner. There it would be, lying on the ground, looking dead. On more than one occasion I was able to bring one back simply with the warmth of my hands and breath, and by placing its bill into a sugar water solution. As the bird warmed up, the tongue would flick out, feebly at first, and then more rapidly. The next step was to put it in a warm cage for awhile, with a sugarwater feeder inside, and give it a chance to make a full recovery. Inside of an hour the bird was alive and vigorous again and could be introduced back into the exhibit. With no lingering ill effects, it went on to live a normal lifespan. Amazing. It was so miraculous that I felt like a faith healer!

Sugar water replicates very closely the natural plant nectar that is a part of a hummingbird's normal diet. But nectar is only a portion of that diet, which is primarily insects or other sources of protein. Nectar (or sugar water) is a high energy source that hummers use to maintain their caloric intake to fuel their hunt for proteins. Feeders are only supplemental food sources, generally provided to attract the birds in the first place and to augment the possible lack of natural nectar sources present in the winter months. It seems likely that a baby, not getting nourishment from its mother, would not develop in the same manner on just a nectar or sugar water diet, so what the rescue woman is saying makes a lot of sense. But there is no earthly reason NOT to provide sugar water to the adult birds (and even their young) as a supplement as long as it is kept fresh, clean and free from bacterial and fungal organisms, which can grow and proliferate rapidly on that nutrient source. And of course any artificial colorings are a no-no and totally unnecessary anyway. Here is a link that might be useful: hummingbird diets and supplemental feeders