Why the Hummingbirds Stopped Coming
It is a strangely personal disappointment. The feeder was busy for weeks, you got used to checking it with your …
Hummingbird Care
Nectar, ants, bees, mold and migration. The care questions answered with Audubon and Cornell sources, not kitchen folklore.
When to Take Hummingbird Feeders Down in Fall
Somewhere around Labor Day the traffic drops off, and then one morning there is nothing. The feeder is still full, …
When to Put Out Feeders Where You Live
Every spring the same question goes round the neighborhood: is it too early to hang the feeder? Somebody put theirs …
What Goes In a Feeder Besides Sugar Water
The question usually arrives about a week after the feeder goes up. The sugar water works, the birds came, and …
Wasps and Yellow Jackets at the Feeder
Wasps and yellow jackets do not show up in May. They show up in August, when the colony is large, …
Red Dye in Nectar: Why the Sources Say No
Walk into any hardware store in April and there it is on the shelf next to the feeders: a jug …
How Often to Change Nectar in Summer Heat
Nectar goes off on a schedule set by the thermometer, not the calendar. The same feeder that is fine for …
How Many Feeders for a Territorial Bird
You hang one feeder, three hummingbirds find it, and within a week there is only one using it. The others …
Vaseline, Oil and Tape: What Not to Put on a Feeder
It is the first suggestion in every thread about ants on a nectar feeder, usually posted with the confidence of …
Do Feeders Keep Hummingbirds From Migrating?
This is the single most repeated piece of hummingbird advice in North America, and it has been wrong the whole …
Black Mold in a Feeder: Scrub It or Bin It
It usually turns up in the worst possible place: black specks inside the neck of a bottle feeder, or a …
Ant Moats: Plain Water Beats Every Sticky Product
Ants find a nectar feeder within about a day of the first drip, and once a trail is established the …