Best hummingbird feeders?

13 years ago

I've bought two feeders and am not pleased with either one. What is the best kind to have? I've got the small red bowl with a plastic flower on top that hangs on a window which always falls off and I got a cylinder one that uses a rubber stopper and tube with a plastic end to it that seems to be leaking all of the nectar, as it's empty after a couple of days and there has been no sign of hummingbirds. That particular one the fluid is pressing against the stopper as it hangs and I guess it's leaking Thanks.

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Comments (14)

ctnchpr
13 years ago
Try First Nature feeders - sold at Wal Mart. Cheap, easy to clean, and made in the USA. Get the small (16 oz) one. If your hummers are drinking more than 16 oz every 2-3 days, you need more than 1 feeder. BUT DON'T BUY THE RED NECTAR!!

Here is a link that might be useful: First Nature
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
13 years ago
I like ones offered by 'Perky Pets' brand. These are sold everywhere. Not very fancy but extremely functional. I have several different styles but the "oasis" model seems to attract the largest crowds. FWIW, the decorative blown glass feeders seem to be far less functional (they ALWAYS leak!) than the cheepo plastic kind -- I think they are designed more for their appearance than to properly suit the birds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Perky Pet hummingbird feeders
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Last year, I bought a feeder at the store that was made of green glass, and shaped like a pear with a hole at the bottom. There was a black rubber stopper stuck in the bottom of the glass pear. The stopper had a hole in its center, and an angled glass tube was inserted into this hole and hung downward. The end of the glass tube had a collar of red plastic. It was cute looking, but what a terrible feeder! The vacuum inside the glass receptacle prevented the solution from travelling down the tube, and the tube was so long that it would take millions of years of hummingbird evolution to find a bird that would evolve a bill shape to use it. Their bill would have to be curved upward, like a godwit or something! Anyway, I got so disgusted with this that I decided to make my own feeder. I got a small glass liquor bottle (maybe 4 oz or so) and found a red rubber stopper at Wild Birds Unlimited. The stopper fit perfectly into the opening of the bottle and had a hole in the center that was meant to receive a bent glass tube. Instead of using the tube, I made a flower out of Sculpey clay (or is it, Sculpy?) and poked a skinny hole in the center of the flower with a bamboo skewer that seemed the right size. The sculpey clay itself is supposed to be non-toxic, and I glued it to the red rubber stopper with epoxy. The epoxy is on the outside, and never touches the solution. Finally, I found some very fine gold wire and fashioned a sort of harness to hold the bottle. The bottle hangs diagonally downward at an angle of maybe 45 degrees, or a bit less. The ants I have trouble with are great big carpenter ants (man, can they bite!) and they are too large and clumsy to climb down my very slender gold jeweller's wire. I don't know if it would work with tiny ants, but I haven't seen a single ant on the feeder, so it seems to be working. The feeder is small enough that the nectar gets used up quickly, so I seldom have to worry about nectar going sour. When I do clean it, I just pop off the stopper/flower and toss it, and the bottle into a pot of boiling water. Easy! To be sure, there are more elegant feeders to be found, but the hummers seem very comfortable with it. The sugar solution stays up in the bottle, and the bumblebees that have visited it seem to have trouble reaching the solution, so don't linger. The hummingbirds, with their longer bills, have no trouble at all, and just probe deeply inside to get at the sugar water. My fake sculpey flower looks kind of like a cardinal climber flower, and I guess it's convincing enough that the hummers have no trouble seeing it as a possible food source.
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taz6122
13 years ago
I'd have to say Perky Pet is way over priced. I use the First Nature 16oz pictured above.
old_eagle
10 years ago
I have used several brands, not too successfully until I found "Best 1."
**********Made in the USA.**********
I now have several of them. The cheapest one that I have found,$9.99 @ Best Nest (online).
The more of them you put out, the better.
The smallest one is the most satisfactory one that I have used.
No need for more than 3 or 4 day supply due to fungus, mold or mildew.
Less airspace reduces heat expansion and overflow.
Have had no problems with bees or wasps.
Easiest to clean and dishwasher safe.
hummersteve
10 years ago
As far as the best feeder maybe its more in the eye of the beholder. Some people like certain fancy glass ones , thats fine . It also could come down to how many hummers you have. If you have an active yard hummerwise you will be changing feeders every 3 days or less[I suggest you do regardless]. In this situation I prefer the easiest and quickest to clean, those with larger openings and ones where the base comes apart for cleaning. I do have one though where the base does not come apart and I still use it, the pp209 30oz glass although I usually dont fill this feeder full if not needed only enough to last 3 days. I also like to bleach soak my feeder if any mold develops. About 1-10 ratio bleach to water works well.
MissSherry
10 years ago
I like Humzinger feeders. They're SO easy to clean and fill, they don't leak, and the hummers go to them readily.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: Humzinger Feeders
hummersteve
10 years ago
Sherry

Yes I also have a hummzinger excel , it does help solve the bee problem too.
sandyslopes z5 n. UT
10 years ago
Another vote for the Hummzingers. What I like is that they are so easy to keep clean, which is essential for hummingbird health. I've had feeders that needed special brushes to clean them, and I was still unsure if there might be mold left behind. Hummzingers last a long time. I've been using the same four for several years now.
hummersteve
10 years ago
I use mainly first nature feeders , but I also have a hummzinger excel which is one of the bee proof ones. But concerning the suction cups that keep falling off I use these double suction cups extenders from walmart and they do not fall off and hold up to 5lbs. I dont think they are wood anymore they are hard rubber but they still sell them. I even found a couple at goodwill.

window extenders

hummzinger excel

another advantage of using these hangers
hummersteve
10 years ago
I use mainly first nature feeders , but I also have a hummzinger excel which is one of the bee proof ones. But concerning the suction cups that keep falling off I use these double suction cups extenders from walmart and they do not fall off and hold up to 5lbs. I dont think they are wood anymore they are hard rubber but they still sell them. I even found a couple at goodwill.

window extenders

hummzinger excel

another advantage of using these hangers
zzackey
10 years ago
I use a feeder that Ace usually has on sale by now. It has perches and big yellow flowers for the feeding sites.I don't use colored water. I am trying to plant flowers for them instead.
yardenman
9 years ago
After many years, my "Best One" hummer feeders are breaking apart. Mostly, the perch rings are breaking off as I handle them after 10 years. I read that the Humzinger ones are the best. Is that still true? And why?
mehitabel
9 years ago
Best? How can you ever be sure? Hummzingers are great. They are easy to clean and come with a built-in ant moat, and (tho I haven't used them) insect guards.

Why not try one and judge for yourself.
gyr_falcon
9 years ago
I got so fed up with perch rings breaking (ten years is not bad, but some brands broke within a few weeks), that I went shopping for a brand that was easy to clean, the hummers liked, and the perches were sturdy. That was at least fifteen years ago, and I bought my first "favorite feeder". It is even dishwasher safe (top rack)! When I wanted to buy more, I could not find the one I wanted anywhere. Just this year, I located an online site that carried the exact style and brand (Heritage Farms) desired and bought three more. As seen from the photo, the old feeder has lost a bit of sheen over the years, although it is not as obvious in person as shows in the photo, but it is still as sturdy and serviceable as the day it was bought.

Hummzingers are popular, and they seem to hold up well from what I have read. But some users report that their hummingbirds will not use them. So I wanted to provide another choice.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Heritage Farms Feeder

Best hummingbird feeders?

Comments (14)

ctnchpr

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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