Quality Hummingbird Feeder?

HawgBonz

HawgBonz

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We've got a few Hummingbird feeders up. The girls like watching them in the warmer months.
Two of them are the cheapie plastic ones that drip and attract ants.
The other is a glass mushroom shaped one that drips and attracts ants.
Is there a decent quality feeder that doesn't drip? Mebbe even has some replaceable parts to accommodate maintenance?
Thanks.. 😎
 

I bought these ant motes a couple seasons ago because I have found there is allways gonna be ants on hummingbird feeders. Keep the little cup filled with plain water and ants can't get to feeder and sugar water. They have worked great. Eventually the ants just move on. I bought a couple of the upgraded plastic feeders at tractor supply and the little fake flower feeding ports pop out to clean and bottom bowl comes apart to wash out.
 
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We have one of the cheap plastic feeders and had problems with ants traveling down the chain it hangs from. Wifey had an idea to put Vaseline on the chain, yes it is a little messy, but it works.
 
I've had better luck with this style, where the feeding ports are above the nectar. The other style always seems to leak as the nectar expands in the heat of the day, then contracts at night. And the plastic moat above the feeder is a must.1000013763.jpg
 
Momma cut the tops off plastic Mt Dew bottles, cut/drilled/melted a hole in the middle of the cap and hot glued it to a piece of coat hanger to make her own moats. Just add water. I'll see if I can get a pic in a little while.
 
At the risk of sounding like a nerd. If you’re buying food for them that is pre made and colored, STOP. The red is bad for them.

Pretty easy to make yer own and it’s way better for them
 
Burt Gummer said:
At the risk of sounding like a nerd. If you’re buying food for them that is pre made and colored, STOP. The red is bad for them.

Pretty easy to make yer own and it’s way better for them
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Very good point. I use a 4:1 water to sugar and that's it.
 
I bought one at Walmart last year that is glass. Fill it up, put the feeder on and hang it. Didn't drip. No ants. And watching the birds was fun
 
Where I've got'em they're in the shade all but early morning.
And yup, clear juice. They don't seem to care that it ain't pretty. 😎 👍
 
I have seen some ceramic hummingbird feeders that I liked a lot. We gave one to a friend, and have been looking for another for our own selves.
 
We have a nice one given to us by the manager of the hardware store, who is also the mommy of our granddaughter. The hummingbirds won have anything to do with it. I’ll post pics so you don’t buy one.
 
Won’t necessarily fix your problem but ants detest cinnamon. I use it around my beehives and it doesn’t seem to bother the bees. Not sure if hummingbirds will care about it or not. Might be worth sprinkling some around.
 
I've changed over to the ones similar to Pack72 showed and mix my own. Last year I tried growing fox glove and Agastache but it didn't do well in pots. I did grab some firecracker plant, an annual and they loved it. I plan get more this year.

If you can stand some karens and old woman stupidity there is a facebook "North Carolina Hummingbirds" it has taught me some if you filter out the bs and the information is NC related not communifornia. There is one woman in columbia that has to have over 100 hummers at her house. Its unreal and amazing to see them all around her deck.
 
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I have a well cultivated birdswarm. I just put out a feeder Sunday for the early birds to show up. I've been lucky with no ants, but have had some bees.
I use basic 32 oz. plastic feeders. Because they are easy to clean. I clean them every time I ref-fill them which is daily.

I think I did 60lbs of Organic Cane Sugar last year. May have been 80. It sounds like a WW2 Pacific air battle on my front porch all summer. Love watching these little guys.
 
I have one like this (but not this expensive):
www.duncraft.com

Duncraft.com: Hanging Sphere Hummingbird Feeder with Red Perch

Buy the Hanging Sphere Hummingbird Feeder with Red Perch at duncraft.com. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed at your Wild Bird Superstore.
www.duncraft.com www.duncraft.com

I have a problem with squirrels pulling the plastic flowers out, and then the wasps can get in. This one isn't worth the trouble for the squirrels. You have link 2 or 3 of these together if you attract a lot of birds. It does require an ant moat at the top. I use water and a bit of vegetable oil on top to keep the water from evaporating too fast.
 
fieldgrade said:
We have a nice one given to us by the manager of the hardware store, who is also the mommy of our granddaughter. The hummingbirds won have anything to do with it. I’ll post pics so you don’t buy one.
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Okay, not sure which brand this is as it was a gift, and the box was thrown out after we hung it up. We’ve had it out two-three years. Plenty of other hummingbirds in our little neighborhood, but they’ll have nearly nothing to do with this feeder, or this feed. My wife just likes how it looks hanging out there in the sun outside the porch. We do wash it out and change the nectar periodically, but no love from the little humming birdies.

IMG_3892.jpegIMG_3891.jpeg
 
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fieldgrade said:
Okay, not sure which brand this is as it was a gift, and the box was thrown out after we hung it up. We’ve had it out two-three years. Plenty of other hummingbirds in our little neighborhood, but they’ll have nearly nothing to do with this feeder, or this feed. My wife just likes how it looks hanging out there in the sun outside the porch. We do wash it out and change the nectar periodically, but no love from the little humming birdies.

View attachment 763167View attachment 763168
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Shitcan the ready to use nectar. And mix you up some 4:1 water and sugar and try that. I use hot well water out the tap so sugar will dissolve. Shake the hell out of it and let it cool down on counter before feeling feeders. The sugar water will ferment and then go to vinegar pretty quick setting in direct sun so if they haven't drank it down in day or 2 change it out and give feeder a wash.
 
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Papermaker said:
This is what I use. 32 ounces and very easy to clean. https://a.co/d/fqmGT9H
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I have a couple of those up and they are the most visited feeders. When clicking on the link Amazon says I last bought one in 2016 so they seem to last. Have a couple of the more decorative feeders made of glass up and they don't get near the hummers. We just put our feeders out today so haven't seen anything yet. Normally we will dump, clean and refill once or twice a week depending on volume of hummers coming through. All my feeders hang off our soffit of the screened porch so it's fun sitting out there watching them.
 
We have more Hummingbirds stay near our Butterfly bushes than the bird feeders most of the year. Bonus is you get to see both Butterflys and Hummingbirds most of the year.
 
HandyDave said:
Shitcan the ready to use nectar. And mix you up some 4:1 water and sugar and try that. I use hot well water out the tap so sugar will dissolve. Shake the hell out of it and let it cool down on counter before feeling feeders. The sugar water will ferment and then go to vinegar pretty quick setting in direct sun so if they haven't drank it down in day or 2 change it out and give feeder a wash.
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I came here to say this.
 
HandyDave said:
Shitcan the ready to use nectar. And mix you up some 4:1 water and sugar and try that. I use hot well water out the tap so sugar will dissolve. Shake the hell out of it and let it cool down on counter before feeling feeders. The sugar water will ferment and then go to vinegar pretty quick setting in direct sun so if they haven't drank it down in day or 2 change it out and give feeder a wash.
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They don't need the red dye either
 
Hummingbird report. Seen the first 3 of the year yesterday April 14th 2024. Hung up a feeder last week as a tester. My aunt said she seen one few days ago and then I seen 3 yesterday so now I'm gonna hang few more feeders out. My dog Lucie loves setting on porch watching them zoom around the feeders and buzz by her.
 
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Put my feeder up last week but then we were gone for the weekend. Saw at least two yesterday and again this morning.
 
saw 3 yesterday, put up feeder Friday.
 
I hung 2 more feeders up today after seeing a few hummers yesterday. All 3 feeders have been getting worked over hard all day today. Hummingbirds zooming all over. So it's safe to say they are here and ready to eat. I even made a order from the old Amazon earlier for some hummingbird houses to hang up and see if anything uses them. Hopefully they don't turn into bees nest like my bluebird houses did last year. Got my ass tore up when I opened one to clean it out for the year. Here's the little hummingbird houses I got if anyone else wants to try them. There's tons of different ones online.Screenshot_20240415_200031_Gallery.jpg
 
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