Summer Jewels

by

Pepper L. Bauer

The heavy June air, lightly sweetened with the perfume of new growth, envelopes you as you relax on a bench in your backyard. Suddenly, you're aware of a loud buzzing sound coming from just slightly above your head. You instinctively want to jump, but control the urge and sit very still, eyes straining to see the tiny buzz saw. It finally comes into view as it hovers in front of your face and curiously checks you out. It's one of the most delightful aspects of summer: a hummingbird.

Once blessed with a visit from one of these tiny flying jewels, you can't help but be smitten. If you aren't, as "The Delta Doctor" on WGLT radio might say, "You've got a hole in your soul".

Many people, after being bit by the "hummingbird bug", want to attract them to their backyards so that they can enjoy them all the time. That isn't as easy as it sounds. It takes a lot more than just putting up a feeder to attract and keep hummingbirds in a healthy environment.

Don and I have, at a minimum, three feeders up at all times during the season to attract the only hummingbird that is indigenous to Illinois, the Ruby Throated. The males have gorgeous red throats and emerald colored backs, with black heads. The females have emerald backs and pale tummies, but are just as attractive. We also have a hummingbird garden and wildflowers for their enjoyment.

The feeding season for Ruby Throated Hummers lasts from early May, to when the stragglers from "up north" fly through on their way south around the first week in October. This year, according to an Internet site that tracks hummingbird migration, they appeared in our area as early as April 15th. And no, you don't have to take down your feeder in September to encourage hummers to fly south; that's an old wife's tale. They aren't stupid; they know when it's time to leave. The length of the days triggers migration, not food availability.

People have noticed the loads of hummingbirds at our feeding stations, and realizing that I am the chief cook and bottle washer for the feeders, ask lots of questions about the care and feeding of these precious gems. This month I thought I'd write a different sort of article and address some of the most common queries about attracting hummers, and some of my pet peeves.

First things first. What do I feed the little dynamos?

Hummingbirds get their protein and other nutrients from soft-bodied insects and spiders. I've watched them float up and down my yews in the front yard as they systematically pick spiders off their delicate dew-adorned webs in the mornings.

They get the energy they need to maintain their accelerated metabolism primarily from flower nectar and the sugar water they find at our feeders. They are little bug-catching machines, and sugar is the fuel for their engines.

They do not, under any circumstances, eat seeds or grain.

I knew a person once who tried to feed sunflower seeds to a hummingbird, and was very disappointed that the bird ignored his offering. Just the other day I learned of someone who went to the local discount store, bought a hummingbird feeder, and filled it with seeds. When the hummers circled the feeder a few times to check it out, looked puzzled, then promptly ignored it; the people involved were annoyed at what they perceived to be a snub of their generosity.

The proper way to fill a hummingbird feeder is with sugar water. This only supplements the bird's natural diet, so it's not necessary to buy commercial nectar mixes that include vitamins and minerals. The hummers get all the vitamins, protein, etc. they need from the flower nectar and insects they consume; all they use our feeders for is the quick energy boost they get from white sugar.

Studies show that the concentration of sucrose (sugar) in flower nectar used by hummingbirds ranges anywhere from 1 part sugar to 3 parts water, to, 1 part sugar to 9 parts water. The recipe for the mixture that approximates the average sucrose content (about 21%) of the flowers favored by North American hummingbirds is as follows:

* Use one part ordinary white cane sugar to four parts water.

*Boiling the water for several minutes before measuring can retard spoilage in the feeder for a day or two. Don't measure first, it will boil away and mess up your measurements. Stir in the sugar while the water is still hot. Make sure it all dissolves. Let cool before filling feeder.

* If you have any unused syrup, store it in the refrigerator. (Up to 2 weeks)

Sometimes in very hot weather, I make my syrup, 1 part sugar to 5 parts water, so that if the liquid evaporates, I'm not endangering the birds by getting the concentration too strong. If the sugar concentration in the syrup is any greater than 3:1, it will harm the hummers.

Now it's pet peeve time. Please don't put honey, Jell-O, brown sugar, sweetener, fruit juice, or red food coloring in your hummingbird feeders. Honey will kill your trusting little visitors. So will sweetener. The other additions such as juice, Jell-O, etc. spoils rapidly and will cause harm if consumed.

There are reports that red dye might cause tumors in hummingbirds. This may or may not be true, but why take the chance? It isn't necessary to color the water to attract birds. All you need is a bit of red color somewhere on the feeder. If it doesn't have any, tie on a red ribbon or use red surveyors tape. I've even used a red Sharpie pen, and fingernail polish, to mark a faded feeder successfully. However, they bleach out rather rapidly and require touch-ups.

I haven't colored my water in seven or eight years and never have problems attracting the diminutive spider-killers. Actually, I have more visitors now than when I used dye.

Now, you need something to put the sugar water in. Feeders are easy to find; you can get them everywhere from grocery stores to hardware stores, to fancy birding emporiums. You can spend anywhere from $5.95 for a small Perky Pet tube feeder at Bartonville Hardware, to $29.95 for a fancy feeder at Wild Birds Unlimited. The choice is yours, they're all pretty much the same to the hummer. As long as it can get sugar water, it's happy.

My personal opinion is that there is no point in getting one of those huge feeders that hold a lot of syrup, and have several feeding ports. You're wasting your money. It's rare to get more than one or two birds at a time sitting on a feeder. They're far too territorial to allow that to happen. Also, a large reservoir of syrup encourages the caretaker to not change it as often. You need to change the sugar water regularly, no matter how much the feeder holds; so you're just wasting syrup.

What you want, as the caretaker of the feeder, is one that is easy to disassemble, clean, and reassemble. Make sure it's big enough to get your bottlebrush in for scrubbing. I bought one once that had an opening so small that I couldn't get any size bottlebrush inside. I tried using Q-Tips and it was a disaster. I swore at it regularly. Make it easy on yourself.

The little inexpensive $5.95 tube feeder is a good one to have. It's easy to clean and the birds seem to be fond of it. Mine is five or six years old, and though faded, still seems to be the favorite. It doesn't hold much, but that's O.K. since you're supposed to change the syrup every three or four days anyway.

I also have a Rubbermaid feeder that I ordered over the Internet. I love it. It's easy to clean and fill, and has perches for the hummingbirds. They live at the edges of their energy envelopes, and perching saves many calories. It's good to give them a place to sit. They spend about eighty percent of their time perching anyway, in your yard; they might as well be resting where you can watch.

Hanging a hummingbird feeder in your yard, means assuming some responsibility for the health and safety of a fragile and trusting animal. Please keep the feeder clean. It's unhealthy for a hummer to ingest tainted or spoiled syrup.

I've seen feeders left out all winter with syrup in them. Come spring, there it sits, waiting for diners. I've been tempted to knock on the feeder owner's door and ask if they would eat food left outside for six or seven months. Yuck!

If the temperature outside is over 80 degrees, clean and refill the feeder every three or four days. If it's over 90 degrees, it might spoil in two days. I mark my calendar with an -H- when I change my feeders so that I can keep track of how many days it's been between cleanings.

Discard any unconsumed sugar water. If the birds aren't emptying your feeders, use less syrup next time. Visually inspect your feeders for black mold, and if the syrup is cloudy, it's spoiled and needs to be replaced.

Every filling, flush the feeder with hot tap water, and scrub vigorously with a bottlebrush. Sometimes I use Q-Tips to get at the crud in the feeding ports. Don't use soap. Hummers don't like the taste.

Once a month, clean the feeder thoroughly with a solution of 1/4-cup bleach to one gallon of water. Soak the feeder in this solution for one hour, then clean with a bottlebrush. Rinse well with running water and refill. Bleach is safe and effective. Reacting with the fresh syrup neutralizes any remaining bleach.

If you are not willing to put much energy into the rigorous maintenance routine required for feeding hummingbirds, maybe you should plant a hummingbird garden instead. You can still enjoy the birds, without the work of changing the feeders.

Before I quit, I want to address the bane of hummingbird feeding: ants, bees, wasps, and yellowjackets.

Ants will eventually find you feeder unless you take precautions. The easiest method in dealing with the persistent little guys is buying an ant moat at any store that sells feeders. Kelley's Seed has them for $5.95, and I imagine most places sell them for around the same price.

The ant moat is just a little cup that you fill with water and it hangs from the hang-wire on your feeder. Ants can't cross the moat to climb down the feeder.

Don't use petroleum jelly, vegetable oil, etc. around the hang-wire or poles to keep the ants off. Hummingbirds can brush against it in feeder fights, and those substances aren't good for their feathers.

Bees and their ilk are attracted to the color yellow. If your feeder has yellow on it, you can try painting it red. You can also buy feeders with bee guards. However, if the feeder drips, they won't do much good. If all else fails, try moving the feeder a few inches when found by the insects. They aren't very bright, and it takes them a while to relocate the food source.

If you're allergic to bees, be careful. The busy buzzers sting me about once a year. I get cocky, and it's usually my fault, but that doesn't make it feel any better.

It was so gorgeous this morning, Don and I decided to have breakfast on the patio. Ravenous Ruby Throats stoking up on sugar-energy after a long cool night entertained us with a delightful floorshow. Not afraid of us, they buzzed our heads in vigorous territorial feeder fights. Mornings, like this morning, make it hard to tear yourself away and get to work.

Well, speaking of tearing myself away, I have to go. It's a beautiful day, and there are several little flying jewels squeaking and begging me to come outside, have a cup of coffee, and watch their antics.