Hummingbird Feeder

Update and tip: 04-25-2022: This is the third year of using the original feeder I bought, and it still looks great and is very easy to clean. I expected it to last a year, but it really is very sturdy and the colors are still going strong. I did buy an extra to always have a clean one on hand, but when I noticed there always seemed to be a "bully" preventing others from drinking, I bought another and positioned it about 15 feet away. That solved the bully issue and we now have more hummingbirds than ever. I am here today to purchase two more so I can always have clean ones ready to go. I love these feeders and Amazon for making them available!Update and tips, 01-22-2020: Even though we have had freezing weather several times, at least one species of the hummingbirds are wintering over. Seriously, we have had a steady stream from dawn until after dusk on most days since the weather has gotten colder and there are no flowers for them to visit. The feeders still look brand new, too.I did find a real bargain on little brushes to clean the "flowers" on the feeders, and am sharing the link: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CMKR86V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1We did have one obviously sick little bird that came to the feeder but could not do anything but perch there.The other birds started trying to knock it off the feeder and succeeded, so I took it to the local wildlife rescue nonprofit for proper care. I have since joined Smile.Amazon.com and go through that portal to make purchases. I have named the local wildlife rescue as the beneficiary and they receive a donation percentage from Amazon. I hope you will check out this program and name the local nonprofit you would like the donations to go to. Remember, Spring is coming!Update, 11-08-2019: The feeders I purchased still look like new and even though we have had some nights below freezing, numerous hummingbirds are still drinking from them from just after dawn until just before dark. I plan to keep one up, clean and full until they stop coming, on the chance some may overwinter here.-----------------In past years we grew large planters of nasturtiums under our kitchen deck window and trained the vines upward to encourage hummingbirds. When the flowers finally began to bloom we had hummingbirds visit occasionally each day and it was wonderful to watch them.As time marched on it became too hard to maintain the deck in the fall with the heavy flower planters still there, foliage to clean up and no way to move them. We finally gave up on the idea last year, but truly missed seeing the wonder of the hummingbirds every day.I had thought of getting a hummingbird feeder but was concerned about attracting yellow jackets and ants. When my daughter gifted me an inverted jar style hummingbird feeder this spring I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, I only saw one or two birds visit it over two weeks time (I cleaned and refilled it every 3 or 4 days). The last time I tried to set it up it began to leak from a hole in the bottom and I found an ant on it when I pulled it down to clean.I then did some research and learned that the inverted jar style tend to leak over time, and the saucer style with a perch rail are a better choice. After searching on Amazon.com I found this one and decided to give it a try since it was so reasonably priced. I did see some similar to this with the flowers the same red color as the top but thought this one would work better so I ordered it.I was able to get the original jar style one to stop leaking, refilled and reinstalled it, but haven't seen any hummers visiting it since. Two days later when I received this one, I cleaned and filled it and hung it up. The next morning when I opened the blinds I was delighted to see a hummingbird perched on the rail and drinking! It stayed perched for two or three minutes, drinking again and again, pausing and looking around, then drinking again. I saw this happen two or three times during the day.Today I was so happy to see three different types of hummingbirds visiting it often throughout the day! They visit much more often than they did when we planted flowers for them, and they are not visiting the original hummingbird feeder at all. I have only had it up for two days and they have already spotted it and are depending on it.Today I am ordering an extra to have on hand. That way when I bring one in to clean I can have the other full and ready to hang, so they never go without. These are so economical I can have two of these for the price of one of some of the other styles. This style is neat because it can't spill, has the moat to keep ants out, and no matter which "flower" they drink from, you can clearly see them. It is also very easy to clean, fill and reassemble.To make the nectar I am using 1/4 cup white cane sugar and 1 cup purified water and boiling it in a stainless pan for 30 seconds then letting it cool completely. Because birds are very sensitive to any chemicals and I despise the odor of vinegar, I purchased this to clean the feeders with: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E1CD64/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I also bought tiny cleaning brushes to clean the "flower" tubes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KGXDVQ0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1It is so nice not to have all that work associated with the planters, plus we now have many more hummingbirds visiting!At age 66 and having experienced good and bad times, wellness and ill health, I can tell you it is the little, wondrous things in nature that bring me joy and make life worth living. Thank you, Amazon, for making it possible for me to obtain one of these in the rural area I live in now that I have mobility issues. Kudos!

The media could not be loaded.  I replaced my old feeder this summer with this model and having the chance to sit daily to watch the birds I can easily contrast this feeder with the other style for you. It is worth every bit of a 5-start rating!For years I used the feeders that hold the nectar above the feeding ports. Plastic (if it is not made to last) gets brittle with age and this spring my feeder had cracked. I did "Buy Again" on the old feeder and probably not surprisingly a different model arrived. Again, that was the style with the nectar in a jar above the feeding ports. I immediately noticed that our birds refused to land on it where they would gladly perch while drinking on the very similar older version. That, and a couple of other things, led to my disappointment and I decided to immediately replace it and try this style feeder. Well, there is a significant difference! Thus, my 5-star rating for this one.The feeder I am reviewing stores the nectar below the feeding ports in a bowl shaped container. From above it is circular with 4 yellow flowers marking the holes through which the birds feed. The perch is also circular and goes all the way around. The first, and very obvious, difference is that my birds would not only happily land and perch while they feed but they would stay there 10X or 20X longer than ever before! Another benefit is that, no matter where on the feeder they decide to drink you can easily view them. With the other style they would always choose to hide behind the nectar to feed. This alone is a 5-star benefit!Another huge difference is the fact that this feeder does not attract ants and insects at all like the other style. This in the past was so much of a problem that I had endeavored and designed my own ant moat around the post from which I mount the feeder. The feeders come with a built-in moat. But, where there is a will there is a way and ants do swim. I added a moat where the ants entered from the circumference and had to traverse a much larger ocean. The difference also being that they had to find the little PVC pipe in the center. Compare that to the moats in these feeders where the ant enters at the center point and after flailing about for short time is highly likely to find the outer circumference. It's a mater of probability. It wasn't enough with the old style.With this feeder style there isn't an ant in sight! Why? Well, it is because the only nectar that leaves the bowl is what the birds drink. With the other style you rely on air pressure to hold the nectar up in the bottle. Okay, so its cool looking. But once you fill it and flip it over you spill some nectar right off the bat. Now during the day as the air in the bottle heats nectar is pushed out and drips. This, with the old style, was even more pronounced in the replacement than the prior one for some reason. Worse, at night the air cools and eventually sucks in some more air (a bubble or two) only to push more nectar out the next day. It is like a pump. My bet is that I was losing more nectar to this action than the birds where taking. The outside of the feeder was sticky and attracted bees like crazy. Drips hit ground and that was crawling with ants, each and every one of them then determined to climb to the source. None of this occurs with this feeder that I now have. This on its own is a 5-star benefit!Another nice thing is that you can open the feeder and add nectar while it is still hanging. Yeah, you can "add" nectar. With the old ones I had to wait until it was empty and then bring it in, clean it up and fill the nectar. You should clean the feeder periodically and keep fresh nectar in it. But you do, with this feeder style, have the option to just add some. I didn't have that before. Plus, you can rotate the lid freely to make sure that a feeding port is not blocked by your post.And, when it comes to cleaning, its just a bowl. There is no need for a bottle brush. In fact all of it is so easily cleaned that I might not ever need to soak this one in bleach to be certain that all of the mildew is gone.Did you know that hummingbirds have a tongue that they can extend as far out as their bill is long? Yeah. That is so thin and fast that you cannot really see it. But with this feeder you come close because as they feed from above you can watch nectar below. What you can see often are ripples on the surface of the nectar. They basically lick the surface some dozen times a second. Kind of a neat thing. Couldn't see anything like that with the other style.There is built-in ant moat. I haven't seen an ant try it yet. But it is easily filled with water using a small flower watering can. It has 3 overflows so it cannot overfill. Those also act a little like a skimmer and small insects and dirt on the surface washes down those easily when filling. I have had a couple of Japanese Beetles end up in there. Those are easily escorted to freedom or whatever fate you choose. I also think that because the moat is in clear plastic and below the feeding ports it doesn't evaporate in the sun as fast as the other style. The old ones would dry out more quickly I think.Anyway, I am really unhappy with myself for not electing to use this style of feeder all those many years ago. I now have one of those other style feeders, with no more than two weeks of use on it, that won't get hung again. If you are wondering about feeder styles, don't be swayed by the other look.You should not use the red dye nectar either. One cup of simple sugar, 4 cups of water, stir, bring to a simmer on the stove and once it cools you'll have nectar for a lot of happy birds.

It is really easy to clean and fill with nectar. Along with the hummers who like it, so do the bees. They can smell the nectar but they cant get any so they did eventually give up. I heard they are attracted to yellow but im leaving the yellow flowers on. Do not know how long it will last but it seems to be pretty sturdy so I am not concerned. One of my favorite feeders.