Make Your Own Hummingbird Food Using Just 2 Ingredients

Check out this homemade hummingbird food recipe!

Love having hummingbirds visit your yard?

Just in time for February’s National Bird Feeding Month, you should make your own hummingbird food! It is so easy to do and such a fun DIY activity for the kids to help with too!

It can also be a great money-saver, as you can definitely skip buying the storebought syrup and make your own using just refined sugar and water. It’s so simple!

Hummingbirds are so fun to watch with their fast fluttering wings.

According to WorldAtlas.com, hummingbirds are the smallest bird in the world and have the fastest metabolism of any animal! They live a very high-energy lifestyle and need lots of nectar to survive. Hummingbirds have a great memory and will remember where their food sources are, including your yard!

Hip tips for making your own hummingbird food:

To boil or not to boil? According to BirdsandBlooms.com, simply using really hot clean water is enough to dissolve your granulated refined sugar. Maybe if you plan on making extra food to store in the fridge, or if your water quality isn’t the best, then that’s when you should consider boiling your water. It’s also important to note only refined sugar (white granulated sugar) should be used in this recipe.

Will red food coloring help attract more hummingbirds? Please don’t add any food coloring, honey, brown sugar, or anything else to your hummingbird food. It’s not necessary, and any extra ingredients could potentially harm the hummingbirds.

How often should hummingbird food be changed? It’s recommended to change and clean your hummingbird feeder at least once a week in cooler months, and twice a week during the warm summer months to avoid mold (even every 1-2 days!). If the food starts looking cloudy in the feeder sooner than that, it’s time to swap it out.

Where should your hummingbird feeder be placed? It’s best to hang it near some trees and away from windows and any busy activity.

What about ants? Those determined little critters will find a way to get to your hummingbird food no matter how high you hang your feeder. Luckily, there’s a simple and clever ant trap made specifically for hummingbird feeders. When hung above the feeder and filled with water, these traps form a moat to prevent ants from accessing the hummingbird food. Readers have mentioned adding some oil to the water helps as well. Another option is to use vaseline to keep ants off your feeder.

DIY Hummingbird Food

Supplies Needed

1 cup granulated refined sugar
4 cups hot water

Directions

Mix sugar and hot water together. To make the sugar even finer, try adding it to a spice or coffee grinder, allowing it to dissolve quicker in water.

Pour into your hummingbird feeder.

Make any size of this hummingbird food by using the ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part sugar. Extra sugar water can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

Love my cute hummingbird feeder?

I bought this beautiful glass feeder via Amazon last year and I love the hand-blown glass design. It’s been a great feeder, and I think our family has enjoyed it as much as the birds have. It would make a great gift for any hummingbird fan, too! Even Dollar Tree sells hummingbird feeders.