Hummingbird Nectar: Make Your Own

Hummingbirds make up a wonderful part of our backyard birds. We love to watch them and enjoy that tiny body with those continuous beating wings. Plus we love the ability they have to hover over flowers or feeders. So we want to encourage them to take up residence around our house.

Hummingbird feeders are the easiest way to do this. But, you need to keep enough clean food, called nectar in those feeders. Actually, I use two feeders. One hangs outside for the birds, while the other one is being cleaned and dried.

There is a basic easy recipe to make hummingbird nectar. It's just sugar and water, but you need to know how to put this combination together properly. Use pure cane sugar, not honey or artificial sweetners. Only the real sugar is what works for nectar.

You want to keep your water to sugar ratio at 4 to 1. 4 cups of water to 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of water to 1/2 cup of sugar, etc.

Make sure your water is fully boiled. So add in some extra to allow for that which boils off when heating the water. Measure out your cups of water and add in the appropriate amount of sugar. Stir this until all the sugar has dissolved, then cool the nectar.

Many hummingbird feeders are about 8 ounces or less. You can store extra homemade nectar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Keep in an airtight container to prevent any contamination.

You will need to change the nectar every few days to keep it good. The warmer the weather, the faster it will become bad, so keep a watch out. When you need to change the nectar, it's my recommendation that you also clean the hummingbird feeder. 

Take special precautions with these very special little birds. They are such a treat to watch, we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them.