Our first hummingbirds arrived April 11 here in Georgia. I've not seen any for the last couple of days, so those must be on their way to northern locations. I'm sure the next batch will be arriving here soon. We keep two feeders going...one in the front yard and one in the back yard. We love those little cuties too.

I don't boil the food. I just mix cold water and sugar....1 C sugar to 3 C water. They love it.

Ours come around Mother's Day.

Here is So Cal, we have some year round, more later. I used to fill my feeders several times a day~~I went to a Wild Bird shop and a feeder that holds, 16oz and has 6 feeding ports. With 2 of those I keep up with the feedings easier.

Our first one arrived April 4.

You should google boiling the "food"....it's just not necessary....nor is the red food coloring...

I actually have a gallon sized hummingbird feeder! lol See the eBay link below. I don't trust filling it to the brim, so I usually fill it a little over half way. I don't need it till later in the season, but it keeps me from having to refill every day.

I am getting a late start here in MO, just put out my first feeder today and some oranges for the Orioles... one of them showed up a few minutes later.

Here is a link that might be useful: ebay gallon feeder

We have two feeders that we keep out year round. We enjoy watching the hummingbirds and the little yellow finches, especially.

darn it my sister on the other side of the state had them all the time, in fact my niece still puts out the feeders...but we've never had one on our side...near detroit..put out feeders the first couple of years..then gave up...

We had three on 4/26..in Ohio. I think they were passing through and will be back later..but it sure was fun to see the first ones at their feeder.

I have them all year round. I don't put out feeders, but they love the blossoms on the citrus trees. I have to be careful not to open my windows (no screens) on that side of the house or they will fly right in.

I am in north Missouri. I put up my hummingbird feeder yesterday. There was an oriole on it an hour later. And my first hummer today.

I'm up to 3 feeders now, since the hummers are increasing in numbers. I always boil the water and then stir in the sugar. If I need some nectar fast, I put some of the hot nectar in a metal bowl and set that bowl into another bowl of ice water. That cools it really quickly. I try to keep a couple of quarts in the fridge, though, since we use a lot.

Our preferred feeders are the flying saucer types, they don't get air locks in them like some of the others can.

I am so sorry, but when I saw the title, I thought wouldn't it be funny if I clicked the link, and your message was:

"It was delicious!" - snork!

Dances.

They are not here yet. I never get flocks of them like some do. I remember being in Brazil and seeing them everywhere. Same thing one summer in upstate New York. I do get two or three loyal visitors each season. I only put a cup or so of sugar water in the feeder. They don't go through it fast enough and it gets moldy if I don't change it frequently. I love sitting on thepatio and watching the hummers.I especially love it when they hover right in front of your face as if to say "don't even think about going near that feeder".

We won't have them here for close to a month yet, usually about the 24-26th of May. I hope none show up early this year, because there sure won't be any 'natural' food for them for a while. I usually hang out baskets of petunias early, so there will be some flowers they love available. We only see one very rarely at the house, so don't put feeders out here (but I do have plenty of hummingbird attracting flowers, just in case). We hang several feeders at the camp and although we don't have big mobs of them, we do frequently see as many as 12-15 flying around the feeders at one time. They don't hover and tell us to stay away from the feeders, but they sure do get in our faces if the feeders get empty! We figure that's their way of demanding their food! They certainly are not shy!!!

I've had my feeder out for a while and haven't seen any yet. I guess they are on their way here. I don't boil my sugar water. I just warm it up til the sugar disolves. We love sitting on our porch watching them fight or play. I have one feeder in the front and one in the back of our house. I keep a spare feeder, so when it's time to change them, they're not disturbed.

I always boil the water & sugar because it removes the chlorine from the water & to kill any mold spores or yeast spores that might be in the granulated sugar. I use the Best glass feeders because they are so easy to clean & you can buy replacement parts for them. Mine are the 32 oz ones & I have 4 of them in back & one 16 oz in front.

I put my feeder out on Sunday and I just saw the first one today. Northwest part of Oklahoma.

Quote:

It's not necessary to boil the water. The microorganisms that cause fermentation don't come from the water; they are transported to the feeder on hummingbird bills.

Here is a link that might be useful: Article on feeding & attracting hummingbirds...

Somebody mentioned earlier, using feeders that are easy to clean! I sure agree on that! I absolutely WILL NOT BUY a feeder any more that doesn't come apart to clean (talking about the bottom part here, as a bottle brush can do a pretty good job on most tops (part that holds the bulk of the feed)). I see so many beautiful feeders and just rule them right out because they don't come apart for easy cleaning. But it's just not worth buying them otherwise.

At my brothers cabin, he has feeders hung right outside two side windows so we can watch while they eat. And they watch US as well LOL! They peek in the windows as they sip.

But if the feeders are emtpy? The come around to the sliding door and look in. If you go outside, they buzz you on the deck until they get a refill.

Dances.

Ha! That's pretty much exactly what they do to us too, Dances, if the feeders get empty! We have feeders along the edge of a pergola that is above the deck on the front of our cabin. We have rocking chairs out their in the summer and it is one of our favorite places to sit. The hummingbirds are no more that 6-7 feet away from us as they eat, and like I said, they are not shy about letting us know if they run out of food! Usually we are greeted with a hummingbird in our faces if we arrive at the cabin AFTER the feeders are emptied! I just love watching those guys!