When you make nectar to attract the birds to your backyard, the goal is to mimic the nutritional content of these plants. These are naturally high-yielding nectar plants. In nature, hummingbirds prefer yellow water iris, trumpet honeysuckley, blackberry and comfrey. Or, in the botanical realm, it’s any sugary fluid secreted by flowering plants to encourage bees to pollinate them. Most people know nectar as the fluid that’s collected by honeybees to make honey. Regular white sugar or cane sugar is just fine for hummingbird food. Remember, hummingbirds don’t need special sugar. But beet sugar can contain genetically-modified organisms ( GMOs ). ![]() They just want the sucrose to be able to flap their wings a mind-boggling 4,000-plus beats per minute.Īnother example of an alternative sugar some people use to feed hummingbirds is beet sugar. While you might think honey is more nutritious than white table sugar, hummingbirds don’t care. While fermented foods are good for the human gut, for hummingbirds, the bacteria can kill them. That’s because honey can quickly break down while exposed to heat. Is Honey Good For a Hummingbird Recipe?īut just because a sweetener is natural doesn’t mean it’s safe. Furthermore, who knows what effect artificial sugar has on delicate and tiny hummingbird organs. Hummingbirds need real sugar to fuel their insanely high metabolism. The problem with artificial and low-carb sugars is they have zero calories. Repeat: white sugar and water, nothing else. Nope, all you need for a DIY hummingbird recipe is white sugar and water. And don’t try to play the role of an aviary nutritionist thinking that a low carb sugar like stevia or monkfruit will be a healthier choice for the birds. If you’re going to make hummingbird food all you need is white sugar. Hummingbird food recipe rule #2: don’t use fake sugars Or get a bright red feeder like you see in the picture, below. Just use a red flag or bandanna and tie it by the hummingbird feeder. You don’t need a large cape for a hummingbird. A matador uses a red cape to get the bull’s attention. Instead of trying to use red to attract a hummingbird, think like a bull matador. ![]() But red dye is unnatural and can potentially harm the hummingbirds. Some people, in order to attract hummingbirds, will add red dye to homemade hummingbird nectar. If you love hummingbirds and want to see them thrive in your backyard, let’s get something out of the way right up front. Hummingbird food recipe rule #1: no dye or else little birdy dies ![]() Within a short time of learning how to make homemade hummingbird food, your backyard will be an oasis for these frenetic miniature winged miracles. The next best thing to eating like a hummingbird is learning how to make hummingbird food. If your metabolism equals that of a hummingbird, you would need to eat up to 300 pounds of sugar a day. And their pulse would induce a heart attack in a human in seconds: over 1,000 beats per minute.īut before you envy the metabolic rate of the hummingbird, consider this. They can flap their wings over 70 times per second. In fact, the ruby-throated hummingbird is thought to have the highest rate of metabolism. That’s because hummingbirds have one of the fastest metabolisms on the planet. Yet they have such petite, slender figures. You see, hummingbirds are the ultimate sugar junkies. You’ll also become overweight, diabetic and prone to mood swings. If your diet consists of nothing but hummingbird food, you’ll likely have lots of cavities.
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