Featured product:
Hummingbird Feeders

Bird watching is a great way to enjoy nature, and this hobby is made easier if you entice birds to your yard with food. Hummingbirds are endlessly fascinating to watch, which is why we at Lavalette Nursery offer a variety of hummingbird feeders.

There are many imaginatively-styled hummingbird feeders available today. Among the new feeders available at Lavalette Nursery this year is one crafted and beautifully hand painted in full color to resemble a potted hibiscus in bloom. It features four red flower-shaped feeding ports. You can use the included hanger to hang the item from a branch or hook or sit on a flat surface. It has transparent sides for easy nectar monitoring and is easy to disassemble and clean. Another new style is shaped like a margarita glass, complete with lime wedges, and can be hung or mounted on a deck rail.

Since hummingbirds don’t recognize feeders instinctively as food sources, they must learn to use them, which they do from watching other hummers and though their own natural inquisitiveness. They’ll find a new feeder sooner if you hang it over or near a garden of hummingbird plants.

The sugar water we use to fill hummingbird feeders is only a supplement to the birds’ natural diet. Commercial “nectar” mixes include additional vitamins and protein, but the birds get all they need from the flower nectar and insects they consume. All they want from us is the quick energy they get from ordinary white cane sugar, which is fuel for chasing bugs.

Do not put honey, Jell-O, brown sugar, fruit or red food coloring in your feeder. Honey ferments rapidly when diluted with water and can kill hummingbirds. The effects of red dye have not been not scientifically tested, and it is not necessary to color the water to attract birds to your feeder.

If you want to make your own artificial nectar, use one part ordinary white cane sugar to four parts water. It’s not necessary to boil the water. Store unused syrup in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. This mixture approximates the average sucrose content of the flowers favored by North American hummingbirds, without being so sweet it attracts too many insects. Distilled water may be used instead of tap water, but some researchers believe that distilled water lacks minerals that hummingbirds need.

To keep hummingbirds coming back, the feeder should be cleaned often. Mold and bacteria will grow in the feeder, and yeast from the birds’ beaks will cause fermentation -- conditions that will cause the birds to avoid the feeder. When the temperature is below 70 degrees, once a week should be fine, but about 90 degrees, the feeder should be cleaned every day or so. Nectar placed in direct sunlight will go bad quicker than that in shade.

To clean the feeder, pour the old syrup down the drain and flush the feeder with hot tap water. Do not use soap -- the birds don’t like the taste. At least one a month (or when you see mold or the solution turns milky), clean the feeder thoroughly with a solution of 1/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water. Soak the feeder in this solution for one hour, then clean with a bottle brush. Rinse well with running water and refill. Any remaining traces of bleach will be neutralized by reacting with the fresh syrup. Bleach is both safe and effective.

If the birds are not emptying your feeder between cleanings, just partially refill it. If the sugar solution in your feeder turns cloudy, it’s spoiled and should be replaced.

Hummingbirds arrive in this area in mid-April and leave in October or November. Hummingbirds will not delay migration if a feeder is present -- they are driven by forces more powerful than hunger. If you haven’t seen a hummer at your feeder for two weeks, take it down, clean it and store it for the winter.