Better Yet; Make It A Double

Which is what we had to do with our hummingbird feeder.  We've had one for years; it hangs from a nail driven into the balcony ceiling.  Richie fills it and he finally said, "This thing is shot; I'm going to get a new one."

When he replaced it, the hummingbirds came on the run.  He was having to refill it every other day.   So he went to Target and bought a second feeder.  He put it up yesterday in late afternoon (one of their favorite feeding times) and sure enough, even though the two feeders are about five feet apart, the little birds discovered it.

I was curious so I did some exploring online.  No less authority than the Audubon Society says that the reason hummingbirds love the color red is that other insects shy away from red so there is more nectar for the hummingbirds in red flowers or feeders with red coloring.  You do not have to color the sugar water red.  The little devils are programmed to seek out red.  Just the red trim on the feeder is sufficient.

The Audubon Society recommends these ratios:
1 cup sugar, four cups water
3/4 cup sugar, 3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar, 2 cups of water

Boil the sugar and water together before filling the feeder.  Use white sugar only - never use honey (it will kill the poor bird) or artificial sweetener (they aren't diabetic) or molasses or, in fact, anything but white sugar.  

With two feeders going simultaneously I am halfway expecting a re-make of Alfred Hitchcock's classic "The Birds."  Thank God, hummingbirds are so small!