Depending on the climate that you live in, you may have hummingbirds just a few months out of the year or they may be regular visitors as your hummingbird feeder. If the latter is the case, then lucky you!
Since you have options when it comes to their food, we’ve put together a list of the top hummer nectars in our guide below.
We’ve discovered a few useful tips during our research that we’d like to share with you, as well, so be sure to read them all!
Before You Choose
There are many small details to take into consideration when trying to attract hummingbirds to your yard. Remember the following as you compare and contrast the top choices in our table below:
- Ready to Use or DIY. If you don’t feel like boiling the water and preparing the hummingbird food yourself, then a ready-to-use solution is ideal.
If you have the time and the desire, then a DIY sugar water solution is probably the best hummingbird food you can make. Simple and natural! Just the way they like it.
- Clear or Red. Is it better to use clear hummingbird food or food that’s been dyed red?
There’s always a bit of disagreement here, but we’d probably lean more toward clear just to avoid adding extra unnecessary ingredients to the hummingbird food (i.e. food coloring or dyes).
It’s up to you, really. Some feel that hummingbirds are more attracted to red food than clear, but it’s more likely that they’re attracted to the red feeder than the red nectar.
Top 6 Hummingbird Foods Table
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Make Your Own
Not everyone wants to make their own, but if you do, we highly encourage it!
You’ll find many, many recipes online, but most of them require just two ingredients: water and sugar.
Option number 6 in our table above is a great organic sugar you can use to whip up your own hummingbird nectar at home. We wouldn’t even bother with the food coloring.
The standard recipe calls for 1 part sugar with 4 parts water. Simple!
Probably the best hummingbird food you can present to them and all natural, too!
Useful Tips
Here are a few useful tips to help lure the little hummers to your feeder:
- Feeder. When it comes to the feeder, think about how many feeding stations you need. If you don’t have a high quantity of hummingbirds that visit, get one with 2-4 stations. If you have quite a few hummingbirds and they fight for a place at the trough, get a feeder with more than four stations.
Make sure it has a perch, as well, so they can rest as they drink the nectar!
- Red Glass. If you’re convinced that red is the key to attracting hummers, look for a feeder with red glass or plastic rather than adding red food dye.
The hummingbird will still see red everywhere but you can use clear nectar without and food dye in it.
- Ant Moat. If the ants seem to invade the feeder regularly, get an ant moat to keep them at bay and prevent them from ruining your batch of nectar.
Top 3 Best Hummingbird Food Reviews
[easyazon_link asin=”B001PL7XJE” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”senappblo-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]1. Songbird Essentials SE629 Clear[/easyazon_link]
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Don’t have time or the desire to make the food but you still want the hummers buzzing around? Then get the Songbird Essentials mixture.
This will make 4.5 quarts of nectar and all you have to do is mix it with tap water. You don’t even have to boil it, just measure, pour and mix well!
This is a clear mix, so there are no artificial dyes and it doesn’t contain any artificial sweeteners. Just 100% finely ground sucrose!
The hummers love it, which means you’ll love it, too. Definitely a quality product!
[easyazon_link asin=”B008JTJUNM” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”senappblo-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]2. Homestead Hummingbird Nectar Sugar Concentrate[/easyazon_link]
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While this is the most expensive option on our list, it is a very effective choice and one that serious hummingbird lovers are happy to purchase.
It costs a bit more than the others do because they have added calcium to the mixture, which (as they claim) will help ensure successful egg hatching. Whether this is true or not, we can’t be certain, but in terms of quality feed and ability to attract the hummers, it is a very effective product.
As a liquid concentrate, all you need to do is add cold tap water. No sticky pots and pans or waiting for your mixture to cool! Just mix, put in the feed and watch the hummers swarm.
[easyazon_link asin=”B00JSWUCBI” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”senappblo-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]3. Hummer’s Galore Hummingbird Food[/easyazon_link]
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We like this because it is also clear. No artificial dyes added, no preservatives. Just a powder nectar concentrate that you mix with water!
It will make 64 ounces of prepared nectar (we weren’t able to find the complete list of ingredients, because it seems that there may be more than just sucrose in it). Usually they add in extra ingredients to help provide hummingbirds with protein, fat and fiber, but these aren’t necessary.
A great alternative food choice if the others didn’t work out for you. Give it a try to see if your hummers like it!
