Fooling a hummingbird
-
- June
- 9
The nest of a ruby-throated hummingbird sounds like something from a children’s tale, a materials list compiled by fairies.
“Made of thistle and dandelion down, held together with spider web and covered on outside with lichens.”
You can read all about the tiny birds here.
I bring up ruby-throated hummingbirds because of this wind chime . The wind chime hangs on my front porch. It attracts hummingbirds. They zip up to the thing, ponder the pink flower hanging beneath the chimes for a few seconds and then zip away.
We routinely spot them in the garden or zooming around the yard. I put up a hummingbird feeder last year but no one seemed to be interested in it. Maybe I’ll try again.
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on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 4:29 pm by Mike Risinit.
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Journal News staff writer Greg Clary writes Earth Watch, reporting on environmental issues in the lower Hudson region. Clary has been a reporter, editor and columnist at the Journal News since 1988 and has covered police and courts, transportation, municipal government, development and the environment in the Lower Hudson Valley, among other topics. 
Laura Incalcaterra covers the environment, open space and zoning and planning issues for The Journal News. A Boston College graduate, Laura grew up in Rockland, attended East Ramapo schools and has worked for The Journal News since 1993. Laura has written features and covered North Rockland, crime, government and a host of other issues.
Mike Risinit covers Patterson and Kent in Putnam County, as well as environmental topics touching on the Hudson River and the Great Swamp. Risinit has been a reporter at The Journal News since 1998.
While it is difficult to know for sure why the hummingbirds didn’t visit your feeder, these suggestions may offer some possibilities as well as solutions. Hope this is helpful to you and to others.
To make your own nectar solution, use 1 part white granulated cane sugar to 4 parts water. If by some chance you weren’t using this formula, it would have been the wrong strength for the birds.
If you choose to make your own homemade nectar solution, you need to bring this solution to a boil for 1 1/2 minutes and then let it cool down. You now have a mixture much more similar to that of the flower nectar. You can keep any unused solution in the refrigerator for about a week.
Nectar solutions should be changed every three to five days, because hot weather can cause rapid bacterial growth. If the solution has spoiled, the hummingbirds will stay away from your feeders for a long time because they no longer trust the food source.
Red food coloring is unhealthy for hummingbirds and is not neccessary to attract thehummingbirds, especially if the feeder has a red blossom at the feeding point.
Honey should not be used to feed hummingbirds because it attracts bees and favors the growth of a black fungus that causes a fatal liver and tongue disease in hummingbirds.