Hummingbirds
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Happy days are here again! Hummingbirds show up at our feeder every April. They stick around all spring, summer, and into the fall. Every year I spend hours and hours photographing the tiny beautiful creatures. And every year I add something to my hummingbird photo bucket list. Hummingbirds drinking from flowers, or sitting in a particular tree, or checking out the rose bush. I even got to photograph a different kind of hummingbird in Colorado last year! But my biggest bucket list item of all has been to feed them by hand, and a couple of years ago I had my first success.
I love our regular hummingbird feeder for several reasons. It has a clear bottom so it’s easy to tell when it needs to be refilled. The top is red, so it attracts the birds. It has suction cups to attach to our kitchen window, so we have a beautiful view from our main living area. Early in the season the birds are a little skittish due to all the traffic in the kitchen, but they seem to get used to us eventually. Whether you’re hanging out inside or outside, it all helps to get the birds to the point where they’re comfortable enough to let you feed them. Here’s the feeder we use:
Cuboid – Window Hummingbird Feeder
We feed the birds solely a mixture of sugar and water. One part sugar to four parts water. When I’m on top of things, I make up a little batch and store it in the fridge. The busier the feeder gets, the more often I have to change it, and there’s usually a bird waiting on the food when I bring the feeder in. The sooner I can clean it and refill it, the better.
I’ve seen videos people hand-feeding hummingbirds all sorts of ways—even by using Solo cups. I have a couple of tiny hand feeders that are adorable. What has worked best for me, though, is a simple red bottle cap. I put a little more sugar in the solution to make it extra enticing, and I learned early on that I have to take the regular feeder down temporarily. I tried just sitting in front of it, but then I just ended up with hummingbirds buzzing around my head. It also helps to attempt this on a day when the feeder is busy. Otherwise you could be waiting a long time.
From this point it’s just a matter of sitting very still and quietly until the birds start checking you out. I’ve found that they’ll do that for a while before they attempt to take a drink. The first few times I tried this they would get so close but then fly away without drinking anything.
One day I went out and it didn’t take long at all before I had a hummingbird drinking out of my hand! I really had to focus to keep myself from yelling or making sudden excited movements. Of course I had my phone propped up against my arm to capture every single moment I could.
I’m still waiting for our feeder to be busy enough to sit out there again this year, but I’m itching to do so. I can’t imagine that it’ll ever get old.
