There aren`t any studies that say it does hurt them but there are also no studies that say it doesn`t hurt them. Because these little birds ingest so much nectar in the course of a day, any additives to the nectar could have a cumulative effect. Given that most hummingbird feeders have enough red on them to attract the birds it`s actually less hassle to forgo the additives and just stick with straight cane sugar and water.

As long as your feeder has red parts they will come. Actually, the color doesn't really matter. Hummers are attracted by the nectar content, not the color, so even a green, blue or brown (or even a clear glass) feeder will work equally as well. Like many myths, the attraction of the color red is a causal assumption - hummingbirds are only attracted to red because many red colored flowers have a heavy nectar content. They are also attracted to any other colored flower that has a similar nectar content - pink, white, blue, yellow.

welcome to the forum, um, let's see, how do you spell it...G-L-O-R-I-A gloria! sorry, I bet no one has ever sung that to you, right? ;-) won't do it again. ok, good question. I searched around for old threads with posts from our resident experts, and found a good answer right here in our FAQ. scope it out and let us know if you have more specific questions that the experts can handle. visit and post often. *ALSO, EVERYBODY, futher down on the same FAQ page, it says to use warm water out of the tap. after our recent 'lead in the hot pipes' discussion, should we/can we change it? thanks. Why You Really Shouldn't Use Red Coloring or Commercial "Nectar Mixes": It has not been proven-beyond-any-doubt that the red dye is harmful to hummingbirds but since it is unnecessary to use dye if your hummingbird feeder already has some red on it, why take the chance that red dye might be bad for the birds in the long run? Natural flower nectar isn't colored, so why put something in your sugar solution that the real thing doesn't have? As for those nectar mixes, not only are they quite a bit more expensive than ordinary white table sugar, wild hummingbirds do not need the "added vitamins and minerals". Flower nectar is, for the most part, pretty much just sugar (sucrose) water. Hummingbirds in the wild get the vital nutrients they need mainly through the insects they eat--which some scientists say could be as much as half their diet. (A hummingbird that appears to be nectaring at any particular flower may instead really be hunting the insects that are attracted to the flower.) Many hummingbird researches feel that nectar is in actuality just the fuel these birds use to power their search for bugs. Why You Should NEVER Use Honey: A honey water solution served up in hummingbird feeders can quickly become toxic and deadly. Honey rapidly ferments and also cultures a deadly bacterium. Contrary to popular belief, honey is not "more natural" than the cane sugar that is sold as white sugar. Honey has been chemically altered by honey bees: it is flower nectar and whatever ever else the honey bee ingested, digested, and spit back out again. Honey is nothing like the sucrose found in flower nectar and white sugar. Again, plain white table sugar dissolved in water in a four-to-one solution (see below) is about as close to real flower nectar as you can get. The Proper Sugar Solution Recipe for Feeding Hummingbirds: Four parts water to one part white sugar. (For instance, one quarter cup of sugar stirred into one cup of water.)

Thank you for so much info.....I noticed though that your high energy dogs eats alot more than two cups per day while the low energy dogs eat as much as toots. Tootsie while a bulldog which is known for their low energy is actually quite energetic.....we have to walk her everyday and play with her for several hours otherwise she goes crazy...you can actually see the pent up energy in her when she sits still too long....she is also a jumper (just not on command)and while she runs around the yard she also jumps up on the chairs and tables. (she's allowed). People at the bullympics this weekend said they had never seen a bully run like her before. I do agree with you though...there probably is not much difference between a four star and six star for most dogs....bullies are known as medical nightmares though so we are trying to do the absolute best for her and since we can afford it we do. Toots is actually quite funny to watch as she takes her toys and throw them herself sometime to go after...she is also one of the few bullies from what I've heard who will play fetch.....her breeder actually said we should train her for agility competitions....but we're not show people. I'd be curious to see how much she eats when she slows down a bit.