Hummingbirds

The hummingbirds are here! Time to clean off your feeders, make some nectar and enjoy the show. Here are some tips to help you enjoy the hummers this season.

~ The mixture for the nectar is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water.

~ Don’t add red dye to the solution. It doesn’t attract hummingbirds and it’s nice to offer the birds chemical free food.

~ Our nectar powder mix is fine sugar that dissolves in cold water. If you use table sugar, you need to boil the water to dissolve the sugar.

~ Having some bright flowers around attracts hummingbirds.

~ As it heats up outside, you may have to change your nectar every two days. Sugar water ferments in the heat, and you don’t want a group of drunken hummers buzzing around your house!

~ Take a minute to clean your feeder once a week when you are filling it. A clean feeder will attract more birds.

~ If you have your hummers fighting over the food, don’t worry. That is normal. One hummer will dominate a feeder unless there are multiple feeders around. If you put up multiple feeders the hummers will realize that there is enough food around, so there is no reason for them to waste energy protecting a feeder.

Remember it may take a while for the hummers to find the feeder but once they do you may have a friend for the season.

Be Ready for Your Bluebirds

You can just feel spring in the air. Birds are all around your feeders and you are even seeing groups of Bluebirds hanging out together. That is because until it is mating season Bluebirds will flock in small groups.

Have you seen them checking out houses yet? Well they are! The male Bluebird will try to find three potential nest boxes. Once he has found a mate he will bring her back around to make the final choice. But do not worry if your house is not chosen in the early spring. Bluebirds will have up to three nestings in a season and may or may not use the same nest box.

Want more information about Bluebirds? Simply sign up for our enewsletter “News from the Wire” by entering your email in the newsletter sign up box throughout the website (see green box to the left). We do not share our email list. You will get a newsletter every once in a while when we have something we’d like to share with you. We may even have an exclusive coupon!

Winter Activity

It has been a really cold winter, and the birds are burning lots of calories to stay warm. Those “fat birds” are just teasing you with that puffed up look. They are really puffing out their feathers to stay warm – their feathers trap are to insulate them and keep them warm. Be sure to keep your feeders full.

The birds are also thirsty so be sure to keep water in your bird baths. While heated baths and bird bath heaters are helpful for our feathered friends, they will also chip at the ice to get at the water underneath if they have to.

Moving Water

Birds love to play in moving water. Check out this video of Goldfinches playing in our water fountain. If you don’t have a fountain, a bird bath can be just as appealing by adding a Water Wiggler to the bath. It makes the birds happy and keeps the annoying mosquitoes away. Come by today and see what we’re talking about.