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Hummingbird FEEDERS-in cold weather (1 Viewer)

With the temperatures in my area dropping to the 30's at night I have started to keep two sets of feeders and replace the outdoor ones with warm ones from inside the house first thing in the morning. I want for them to get as many calories as possible without having to warm cold water to their body temperature. The hummers are consuming a great deal more solution with this practice.
 
It's not a silly question. I've often wondered about it, and I've left unaddressed the possibility that I see "no ill effects" because sickened birds simply fly away and die unseen. However, what I've observed is that they come back for more. What would concern me more than cold nectar on a cold morning is cold nectar, straight from the fridge, on a hot day. But I have no evidence that that's a problem, either.
I've fed hummers in very hot(AZ) summers sugar water straight from frig, no effects on them😊
 
Hello All,
Does anyone have any info., especially research, regarding the effect on hummingbirds of drinking cold sugar water from feeders?
I would think that ingesting very cold sugar water (temp. ~ 30-37 degrees F.) would be detrimental. I am about 35 miles north of San Francisco, and although we rarely get freezing temps. here, it has been very cold lately, with frost and temps in the low-mid 30's at night. I have been taking all of my feeders down at night and re-hanging them at sunrise. I would love to know what others do, and what your opinions are. Even though I have been a hummingbird rehabilitator for 8 years, and am therefore somewhat of an 'expert' on caring for sick/injured/orphaned hummers in captivity, I am not sure about this, even tho I feel like I should know!

Please feel free to email me privately also @ HummingbirdMJ AT aol.com

Thanks so much!

Mary Jo Wheeler
Petaluma CA 94952
I live in hot AZ and have been feeding hummers sugar water straight from frig for years with no ill effect
 
I see no reason to keep sugar water solution in the refrigerator. I keep my solution in a feeder at room temperature of 68 degrees. Takes me very little time to make a fresh batch by heating the water in a microwave oven and after mixing in the sugar I pour the solution into a metal bowl where it cools to room temperature in about 30 minutes.

I change out the solution completely every other day in the winter. In the summer I replace it at 1-2 day intervals based on the consumption. I have two feeds out now and during warmer months I may have up to 6 feeders for the hummers.
 
Hello!
I’ve read that room temp is what the sugar water should be when you’re replacing it. For that reason, I make the sugar water hours before (or let the refrigerated water be out on the counter) so it’s room temp. It apparently can shock their system if it’s from straight the refrigerator, even in cold weather. Don’t ask me why that’d make sense if you’re refreshing what would have been equally cold liquid if it’d been outside.
Last couple of years I’d been bringing the feeders in so they’d not freeze & then put out them BEFORE dawn Yes, they DO become active & feed before the sun rises! And apparently, hummers have to refuel overnice (high metabolism!), especially when it’s very cold, and they need their feeders outside for that.

I was in a quandary then as to how to keep the liquid from freezing if the feeders were needing to stay outside overnite for late hour refueling. Well, I found if you wrap small bubble bubblewrap tight around the feeder, THAT is enough insulation to keep the sugar water from freezing (at least that has worked on my 1 feeder under my porch).

Some things to consider:
I left approx 1/4” clear of the bubblewrap on the bottom edge so I could see if the water was frozen (good so far, even when it got down to 21F). This gap also makes enough clearance so it doesn’t get in the way for the birds. Even if it’s puffing out a wee bit too much, I’ve seen they’ll not stop to feed. They’ll come to the feeder, hover, then fly away, maybe because the bubblewrap is foreign to them? I tape the bubblewrap snug around the bottom edge to prevent this & then they will stop to feed without hesitance.

Btw, the reason I came online tonite was to see if it’s bad to not change the water as frequently as you would need to do in warmer temps. I just read that even if the water freezes, when it defrosts it can cause bacteria to grow. So, yeah, it’s important to still change the water (maybe not as critical to do EVERY day, tho).

Glad to see there’s conscientious bird (/animal) lovers out there! Bird on!
 
I live in hot AZ and have been feeding hummers sugar water straight from frig for years with no ill effect
Hahaha! With the 🔥hot🔥Arizona temps, I bet the refrigerated water isn’t even cold anymore by the time you’ve hung up the feeder! (There was a video of an Arizonan woman baking a loaf of bread in her mailbox when your temps get >110F! This wasn’t fake - it’d been in the daily news, which lead me to see it online.)
 
A lot of the energy value of the sugar water is lost if the birds need to warm up cold water to their body temperature. When I replace water that has dropped to 40-45 degrees and night with the feeders that are indoors and the solution is at 68 degrees, the hummers stay much longer on the feeder and consume a great deal more solution during each visit.

I make batches of what I need for my current feeders and do not store the solution. Water with sugar is going to grow organisms and I prefer to make enough to fill the feeders so that the solution will last for two days. I use metal bowls to quickly cool the boiled water with sugar added to room temperature.
 
A lot of the energy value of the sugar water is lost if the birds need to warm up cold water to their body temperature. When I replace water that has dropped to 40-45 degrees and night with the feeders that are indoors and the solution is at 68 degrees, the hummers stay much longer on the feeder and consume a great deal more solution during each visit.

I make batches of what I need for my current feeders and do not store the solution. Water with sugar is going to grow organisms and I prefer to make enough to fill the feeders so that the solution will last for two days. I use metal bowls to quickly cool the boiled water with sugar added to room temperature.
I agree to the cold water takes too much energy for them to warm up, which is defeating the purpose of assisting them in refueling. I also read last year that very cold water can shock the hummers’ system, no matter the temps outside. Maybe not all but I imagine this might be the case for the more delicate ones (younger, older, not as healthy?).
 
I’ve got multiple feeders but only ONE doesn’t leak. The one that does not leak is the same style as a couple others I have that do leak, so I don’t get it. Can anyone recommend a hum feeder that they’ve bought multiple times & had success with them not being problematic? I’d prefer a wider mouth on the part that holds the liquid so I can clean it much easier. I also found the hummers around my place tend to prefer the kind that have feeding portals that are narrow slits. BUT! the leaking issue is the main attribute I seek; the other 2 factors are mostly just desirable. I’d like to have a room temp feeder inside to be ready to swap out in the early morn for the cold one outside. Seeing that I haven’t had much success in finding ones that don’t leak, I’d like to have at least 2 (1 extra from what I have) to be able to swap them in the morn.
 
I have tried many hummingbird feeders over the years until I discovered these which are a very simple design and works exceedingly well for hummers and for orioles.

Easy to take apart in seconds to insure it is cleaned completely between batches of sugar solution. I have 10 of these and have 4 in rotation at the present time. The top section unscrews from the base and the base comes apart as well. Important to be sure the two halves of the base are latched securely before heading off with the feeder. By far the easiest feeder to clean that I have found.

Hummingbird Feeder 32oz.JPG
 

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