Just call me the crazy hummingbird lady!

I know I've mentioned my hummingbird feeder once or twice before.  But I'm going to talk about it again.

Last summer we got one at Lowes.  It was really pretty.  The top and base were bronze looking and it was the least tackiest one we could find.  We filled it up with the bright red nectar and waited.

Occasionally I would spot a hummingbird - typically only one or two a week.  Fall came and we took it down because I had read that the hummingbirds migrate south and won't be back until spring.

I excitedly put it back up this spring and again we waited.  And a couple of birds would come. but not very many.  I even purchased two more feeders at Aldi when they carried them in May. These were the typical cheap feeders - lots of red plastic flowers and sort of tacky looking.  We hung those up near my pretty bronze one and filled them all with the bright red nectar and as usual a bird or two would visit. 

And then I saw a video on my cousin's Facebook page of her feeder.  There were THREE hummingbirds at once time drinking the nectar.  And they wouldn't just take a quick sip and fly away like mine did - these birds stayed there taking sip after sip and buzzing around the feeder.

I also noticed that her feeder didn't contain the bright red nectar.  Her nectar was clear and these birds were loving it.  I immediately messaged her for the recipe and the next day decided to make my own (even though I had just purchased two container of the red nectar at Aldi when I got the other feeders.)

I combined 4 cups of water with 1 cup of sugar and brought it to a boil stirring the whole time.  As soon as it started to boil, I removed it from the heat and let it cool completely.  I then filled up my three feeders and waited.  And almost immediately started to notice more birds.  After a week or so I had multiple birds to visit daily and now I have so many birds I can't keep up.  It seems that almost any time I glance out my kitchen window there is a bird or two at my feeders!

I have noticed so many different varieties of birds - solid black, solid brown, black with white belly, brown with white belly, black with red on it's belly, and my favorite of all - one that is brown but it's entire back and wings have a green iridescent look to them Some have really long beaks while others have beaks with curves and others are short.  Some have very tiny bodies and some are much larger. 

After I put out the homemade nectar I noticed that no birds were coming to the bronze colored feeder so I did what the websites I had consulted suggested and I put red ribbons on the feeder.  Still no birds came to that feeder.  I think it's because the base of the feeder is metal and it has a very metallic odor to it when I change out the nectar.  It's like the base is rusting and the birds can taste or smell it.  We replaced that one with another red plastic one.  Unfortunately I did not have the feeder screwed into the hanger properly and it fell and shattered.  But don't worry - I will be replacing that one soon enough.  For now though, my little hummingbird friends are really enjoying their homemade nectar in their two red plastic flowered feeders.

My kids were giving me a hard time about all my feeders.  I told them that watching the hummingbirds outside my kitchen window brings me great joy (not regular joy but GREAT joy) and that quickly shut them up. I also told them that just because I get great joy from watching the really hummingbirds does not mean that I want to start collecting hummingbird figurines. I will, however, always take another feeder!