Good question. I'm looking for a good feeder also.

I make my own hummingbird nectar. Boil one part sugar to four parts water until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and add to feeder. You can refrigerate leftovers for a refill.

Hummers are not at all fussy about the type of feeder, although the bright colored ones do help to attract them. l prefer the flat, disc-shaped ones (like in the first colored photo here) because they offer a perches and are easy to clean. And always make your own nectar - 4:1 ratio is ideal, inexpensive (far less than purchased food solutions) and most closely resembles natural flower nectar.

Mine are all the Perky Pet Oasis saucer style. They don't drip, bees and hornets can't feed. I know one of them at least is more than 10 years old and they are out 12 months of the year with our year 'round hummers here.

Perkey Pet oasis

I didn't want the 'tacky' red plastic hanging around my house and garden and spent a small fortune on pretty feeders of mosaic, copper, more artsy materials. Every darned one of them dripped, and as soon as sugar water is dripping there is going to be hornets, ants which wasn't acceptable either. With a sigh, I went back to the garden and pet store and brought home the red plastic feeders with yellow flowers.

I bring 8 cups water, 2 cups sugar to a boil for 2 minutes, cool and refrigerate. (ratio of 1 part sugar to every 4 parts water, no coloring) That gets me through 2 cleanings and fillups of three feeders. I bring them in, wash with a bit of dish soap in hot water, clean the ports with the hummingbird feeder cleaning brush and rinse, rinse, rinse again so no traces of the dish soap.

Feeder cleaning brush

For nectar, I just warm my water in the microwave and stir in the sugar. For feeders - the only negative ones are the ones that hang upside down - depending on your climate - if it's hot the stopper often falls out. Even if not hot, you get a steady little drip of sugar water that may come out and we know how ants love that. I used to make that kind - still debating if I could find a cool shady place they'd be ok in. I've had to move to using the ones with bee guards as after a few years all the local bees found them. This is me, once you get a bunch, they fight over feeders and are more afraid of each other than you.

From my observation using two different feeders, the one that has a perch by the necter station is the one they like best. It lets them take a break from hovering and get a sip. Going to replace my original feeder without perches.

Read better to hang a feeder early in case the guests arrive sooner then expected.

In my area, feeders are year round garden accoutrements, as the hummers are year round residents :-)

The Hummzinger by Aspects is recommended by many birding sites and is the one my local bird shop recommends. Ours must be at least ten years old. We have the smallest one because the Anna's hummingbird here in the PNW is territorial and we usually have only two hummers in our yard. We only make 1/2 cup of nectar at a time, but if you get flocks of the ruby-throated, you'd probably want a bigger feeder.

I use a dental brush pick to clean the holes. You could also use a pipe cleaner.

I prefer the Droll Yankee Happy Eight feeders. Saucer style and they have a lifetime warranty, I believe. If you drop them, tho… they break and that's not covered, obviously. I bought three about 26 years ago and I'm still using one of the originals. The design has changed but I still like them best. They don't get airlocked like some of the gravity feed ones can get.

Thanks everyone for the information and advice. I will check out the ones suggested.

I prefer the glass bottle feeders. They are easier to clean. Once I see any mold, I fill the container with bleach and water and let it soak for several hours while a clean one is hanging outside. I make my own food.....just 1 C of sugar to 3 cups of water. I don't add any color. I don't boil the water. Our little hummers love their "juice".

I have well water so don't need to boil either. It is a one cup feeder. 1/4 of sugar in the hole fill with tap water shake and good to go. When it gets funky looking I rinse with salt solution. Pour the salt in the hole swish--the granules scrub the glass walls. Mine is glass, four red spouts. Only one I have ever had. I get birds pulling out the wasp guards but they pop back in.

I have well water, too, but I boil it because it seems to keep the nectar from molding as quickly and prevents the sugar from sinking to the bottom of the feeder, risking an overdose.

Also, I recently read several places to avoid using organic sugar in your nectar. I buy it in big bags from Costco for making jam, so have switched to cane sugar, which is supposed to be better than beet sugar for them.
one source about sugar

A ratio of 4:1 or 3:1 (water/cane sugar) are both acceptable. I've known a couple people who use refractometers to test sugar content of flowers and both ratios mimic what's available in nature.

Having used a number of styles, I much prefer the saucer for ease of cleaning.

I've found hummingbirds to be picky about feeder styles. Unfortunately, my favorite brand and style was discontinued. It is an easy to clean saucer type, with sturdy attached flowers and a hefty perch ring (I hate the ones like Perky that break in less than one year!). I've had them for 15 years, and they are still going strong.

I tried someone's suggestion on the hummingbird forums to clean the holes with dental picks, but they just don't have the necessary resistance to do the job easily. I purchased Droll Yankee Perfect Little Brushes for $4 (for three brushes), and cleaning was so much easier I will never willingly go back!

I just put mine in the dishwasher to clean. I have the kind Cindymac posted above as well as several colored glass ones with removable red glass flowers. They come out sparkling clean, no brushes needed.

Similar to this:

I have never had the sugar settle out and the only time mold has been an issue is on stretches over crazy hot days. How often I fill my feeder varies from a few days to more than 10. It really depends on the migration schedule. My understanding is the boiling is more about removing the chemicals treated water may have . I too have heard basic white baking/table sugar is the closest to natural nectar. I too read they are attracted to the RED of feeders like mine, but they also know and remember. Each May I attempt to have my feeder out by Mother's Day..more than once the Hummers have returned, looked in my window where the feeder is SUPPOSED to be and said HEY IN THERE YOU FORGOT SOMETHING!!

arcy, I don't think you could tell if the sugar was not equally suspended throughout the liquid...you wouldn't see the granules, as they would probably dissolve. But the concentration might be uneven in the solution and the heavier sugar concentration would sink, possibly making the concentration too strong.

I think the no-boil powder mix sold as hummingbird food is probably just finely milled white sugar so it dissolves more easily. I thought about putting sugar in the food processor to accomplish the same thing, but I'm still left with very "alive" well water (that grows mold easily because there is no chlorine in it), so I would have to boil the water anyway before mixing.

My neighbor has that perky pet oasis--a few of them actually--and there are always hummingbirds. It's lovely.

I have well water and find my sugar / water mix lasts longer (gets cloudy fast in summer heat here) if I heat it - days longer. (this glass feeder is no longer made).

I've also used several types and much prefer the Perky Pet saucer type for ease of cleaning. It's very important to keep the feeders clean and mold-free or you can harm the hummingbirds. I use the largest feeder I can buy because the water will evaporate pretty quickly in summer. I keep 2, one in the front yard and one in back, and both are very active. I do boil the water and then add the sugar and let cool before setting out. Seems to keep the mold from occurring as quickly.

Where I live, the little darlings are here all year, too. I prefer one with more glass than plastic and a large one so I don't have to fill it every day. I have this 30 ounce feeder but I am definitely going to get the BIG GULP Nicole has. I see it hold 40 ounces.

Thank you for all the pictures of the different feeders. I had no idea all the different shapes. There are some lovely ones!! I am not sure if we answered the question--I don't know that there is "a best". They all seem to be working well!!

Well, the discussion made me remember that I was determined to try this one out - I'd seen it inthis Facebook video that wasn't the company one. So just got it! I usually have swarms in spring; they fight and you end up with a few owning the feeders by summer (I have 5 of the above feeders on the back porch - had 3 blossom feeders on the front porch - as someone mentioned they're small and have to be refilled often. The person I'd seen with it said they're a bit of a pain to get level, but once you do - they're set. I prefer glass but just couldn't resist this one. It holds 32 ounces (both Amazon and Walmart have it - it comes in 2 foot length if 4 too much). When trying to find that Facebook video - I found this one if you want more inspiration. You Tube feeding hummingbirds video

And, because this thread does hit one of my favorite topics - here's more pics of feeders (with a few comments). These aren't my best hummingbird pics - highlighting feeders here:

I'm still using this one although one of the flowers is always a bit askew.

Love this one - when I saw that the company was going out of business, I found a couple still available on Amazon and nabbed them. It holds about 2 cups. I've had to moe to flowers with bee guards.

Also loved this one as I'm a fan of that cobalt blue (here, the birds find them - they check out anything hanging at my house, could be any color) BUT the bottom of the glass piece is smooth and has a plastic ring glued to it with the ridges for the base to screw into. Didn't hold up much longer than a year and the base with the plastic piece came off (dumps sugar water everywhere). Tried gluing it back on myself, came apart again. I can't recall which glue I used (thinking E6000) - want to try it again, might go with an epoxy this time.

The plastic flowers on this one finally fell apart. Tried buying Perky Pet flowers but they don't fit even close. Given the gravity feed - the feeder ports must fit or you have leaking sugar water (California is one giant ant hill - even the scientists say it - you can Google it ;-) - so sugar water leaking is not a good idea. I usually have Anna's with just a few staying over the winter, mobs in spring and summer and Rufous only when migrating. You can see both in this shot.

I do daily refills on all of them in summer, once per week wash in soapy water and bleach solution every 3 to 4 weeks. Get sugar in a big ol' bag at Costco. Schedule slows down in winter.

Maggie - love all your colorful feeders!

We have the funky red ones - the hummers like them just fine. DH makes his water and sugar heated in microwave and cooled. We have well water also. Our hummers are not here year round. We have one that will come and look in our windows if he's not happy with the menu. No sense in having the pretty feeders here as the wind would just send them flying or something would happen.

Maggie sure does have some pretty feeders. I usually put 3 feeders in back of the house and 3 in the front. I buy the ones with perches and are easy to clean. I keep a supply of about a dozen feeders so I can clean and sterilize them

I use glass ones just because I think they're prettier. Easy enough to clean. I currently have two but I'm planning on adding one or two more. Looking forward to their arrival!

Another vote for the saucer style. Nice that your hummers play well together. I always have one that drives the others off, and here he is.