Flowers Highland Park Il

The most satisfying and amazing thing to see in our back yard is the hummingbird. The way they speed around, hover and then dart away have always fascinated people. The iridescent brilliant colors flashing around the yard is a thing to see.

The best way to attract these fascinating creatures is to put up some hummingbird feeders.

You can buy the nectar to put in these hummingbird feeders or you can make your own homemade hummingbird food. There are a lot of recipes and you may be confused on which is best to use. Here are some facts you should consider.

Never use artificial sweeteners Never use food coloring Never use honey or brown sugar

All these are not good for the hummingbird. They are toxic to the hummingbird and lack the nutrients that they need. Unrefined sugar may have minerals and high content of iron that is hard for the hummingbirds to digest.

Here is a simple recipe that will not harm the hummingbirds and this recipe resembles the nectar that flowers produce. One (1) part refined white granulated sugar and four (4) parts water. Boil the refined sugar with the water until all the sugar is dissolved. This formula can last 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator. Regular refined sugar is better to use then raw sugar that is unrefined. Because white refined sugar is pure sucrose that is commonly found in the nectar of flowers. With refined sugar all the impurities and contaminates are removed. Hummingbirds supplement their diet of proteins by eating small bugs and insects.

Most people think that once they hang their hummingbird feeders up, that their job is done. Well think again. Make sure that you maintain and clean out your feeders. Having a mixture of water and sugar in hot weather will quickly become a breeding ground for bacteria. So it's a good idea that you should sterilize the hummingbird feeders every 2 to 3 days with a fresh supply of nectar. All you need to do is boil the feeders like you would do when you boil baby bottles before reusing them.

With these simple safety steps you can be sure to have the hummingbirds come and visit your backyard year after year. For when they know where to find food they will always come back for more. Hummingbirds are migratory birds and they will migrate in the summer time every year coming as far away as the Amazon in South America.

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