Hummingbird Food Formula

Finding the proper hummingbird food formula will have these unique little birds coming back to your garden again and again. When hummingbirds find a good food source, they are known to frequent it repeatedly, so a good food formula can turn your garden into a favorite feeding spot.

Hummingbird Food Science

Hummingbirds flap their wings up to 70 times per second and fly at speed approaching 60 miles per hour. All of this activity means that hummingbirds have the highest metabolisms of any animal. To keep up with their metabolic rate, hummingbirds have to feed frequently, and they have to eat things that will give them energy to keep going.

Hummingbird’s main food source is the nectar in flowers. They can differentiate between various flower nectars based on sugar content and avoid any nectar that is less than 10% sugar. The protein in their diet comes from small insects, mainly spiders. To keep up with the demands of their bodies, they often must visit over 100 flowers per day.

Hummingbirds eat from one to five times their body weight in nectar any given day. The excess is stored to help them live through the night. Hummingbirds can starve to death in a matter of hours without enough stored food. They spend anywhere from 10 – 15% of their time eating and the remainder resting, as exerting themselves beyond their feeding time would put too much strain on their metabolisms.

Artificial sources of food, such as food in a hummingbird feeder in a garden, are viable alternatives for hummingbirds. The trick is to provide food with a high enough sugar content that the hummingbirds get the calories they need to maintain their metabolisms.

Hummingbird Food Formula

When you make hummingbird food at home, you are essentially making nectar similar to the nectar from flowers. The recipe is very simple – sugar and water. The proper ratio for the hummingbird food formula is four parts water to one part white sugar. Do not substitute brown sugar, honey or any sugar substitutes. Tap water if fine as you will be boiling it before you add it to your hummingbird feeder.

Combine the water and sugar in a small pot and boil the mixture for two minutes. The boiling will remove any impurities and chemicals in the water and sugar that could be harmful for the hummingbirds. It is important, however, to not let your mixture boil for longer than two minutes. Your water will begin to evaporate, which will change the balance of your hummingbird food formula. If it appears that your mixture has reduced and thickened, add a little more water, or start over. Although high sugar content is good for hummingbirds, it is best to mirror typical sugar content for nectar in flowers, which is what the 4:1 ratio will give you.

Never add food coloring to your homemade hummingbird food. It is true that hummingbirds are naturally attracted to colorful flowers, since brightly colored flowers tend to have nectar that has high sugar content. However, artificial food coloring has chemicals in it that could be dangerous for hummingbirds. Stick to a simple sugar and water formula for the best results.

Cool your nectar completely before adding it to your hummingbird feeder. Any leftover nectar can be kept fresh in your refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Changing Your Hummingbird Food

Your homemade nectar has a limited shelf life and will need to be changed frequently. One warning sign that it is time to change is if it becomes cloudy. Once the nectar is clouding, it has begun to ferment, which is dangerous for hummingbirds. Fermented nectar can also encourage mold to grow inside of your feeder. Eating mold can be fatal for hummingbirds.

How frequently you need to change your nectar depends on the temperature. As a general rule of thumb, nectar that is sitting in heat over 93°F needs to be changed daily while nectar sitting in temperatures in the low 70s can last up to six days. Always keep an eye on your nectar for signs of fermentation, and be sure to wash your feeder once a week with a water and vinegar solution. How to Enjoy Hummingbirds has a good chart for when to change your nectar based on temperature.