One critter I love hanging around my garden is the hummingbird. A hummingbird feeder is a great way to attract them to the garden.
Welcome hummingbirds to your backyard by selecting a variety of plants that have brightly colored flowers, such as red, orange, and pink. Often, these flowers are tubular-like, and they’re nectar-producing. It’s these type of flowers that draw the hummingbird in during their migration, during the spring, and again late summer and early fall. Now, hummingbirds have almost no sense of smell, so the flowers they are attracted to are often not very fragrant. You see, these birds look for bright colors and high-nectar-producing plants. Of course, it’s always nice to have beautiful flowers in the garden, but there are other ways to attract these birds to the garden, and that’s with a hummingbird feeder.
You can use a recycled glass bottle, some floral wire, hot glue, and a feeder tube. And with these simple materials, you can create a colorful place for a hummingbird buffet.
Materials for Making a Hummingbird Feeder:
- Glass drink bottle
- Floral wire, 12 or 16 gauge
- Hot glue
- Feeder tube
- Glass beads
- Wire cutters
Directions for Making a Hummingbird Feeder:
Start with a clean, glass drink bottle. Any size will do. I think the larger, the better.
Beginning at the neck, wrap the floral wire around the bottle. Make your way toward the bottom, securing the wire in places with hot glue.
When you reach the bottom of the bottle, form a large loop with the wire and glue the ends on the bottle. This will serve has the hanger for the feeder.
If you want get creative by attaching some extra wire spirals and flat glass beads. The hummingbirds will love the colorful beads.
The last thing you want to do is add a feeder tube to the opening of the bottle. Choose one that you can easily remove so you can keep it cleaned and filled with fresh sugar water. You can find these feeder tubes at any pet store.
How to Make Hummingbird Nectar
Hummingbird nectar is just a simple syrup made with a ratio of ¼ cup sugar to 1 cup boiling water.
- 1/4 cup white, granulate sugar
- 1 cup boiling water
Bring your water to a boil, add sugar and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Boiling helps dissolve the sugar, but it also kills off things that might make the sugar water spoil faster.
Allow the syrup to cool and pour into your hummingbird feeder.
This will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, but it spoils quickly outside, especially in summer when it’s hot. Clean your feeder every 2 days and replace the syrup.