Best Hummingbird Food Recipe

Believe it or not, hummingbirds are probably flitting through your backyard right this very minute. Depending on the season of course.

But hummingbirds are native to North and Central America. If you live anywhere between Alaska to the North and Chile to the South, then there are at least 2 or 3 hummingbirds that live in your area. Maybe even more.

All told, there are more than 300 different species of Hummingbirds and at least 15 of them reside in the Americas. Which means that at least one family of these adorable little hummers has crossed your backyard.

Are they stopping to visit? Maybe, maybe not. But you can make sure of it, and also guarantee they'll be regular guests, if you offer them the right kind of food!

Most people think that hummingbirds are attracted by bright colored flowers. That's partially true - they do love bright reds and purples.

But what really attracts them is the nectar those flowers produce. If you have a lot of colorful flowers that don't produce any nectar, then the hummingbirds aren't going to hang around long... unless you offer an alternate meal source.

Like Hummingbird feeders fill with their favorite food!

Their favorite food is nectar and you can buy it ready-made or in powder form at just about any store. But the store-bought nectar is expensive - and the red dye they use is actually toxic for hummingbirds.

Instead of picking up that expensive, toxic nectar at the store, it's easy enough to make your own. And hummingbirds LOVE this recipe!

You'll need:

• 1 4-cup measuring cup
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Boiling Water

Directions:

• Place one cup of granulated sugar in the 4 cup measuring cup. Add boiling water gradually, while stirring, just until you reach the 2 cup mark. Continue to stir until sugar is completely dissolved and the nectar is clear.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour until mixture is cool.
• Fill your hummingbird feeders and stand back!

We've been using this exact same recipe for the Best Hummingbird Food for more than 20 years and we currently have a family of hummers that returns to our feeders every year. They've been coming to this same 'diner' for at least 12 years now and each year Mom arrives first, followed by Dad, and a few weeks later we get to see the babies!

Make sure your nectar is fresh: We change our feeders every other day. If there's any nectar left inside we throw it away and wash the feeder with warm soapy water, then rinse.

Make sure your feeders are clean: We clean our feeders every time we change the nectar. You want to present a clean, fresh 'dining table' to keep your hummingbirds happy.

Start early: We set our feeders out toward the end of March and keep them fresh and filled from then on. The hummingbirds usually arrive here at the end of March or very beginning of April and we like to make sure they have a meal when they get to our house. Even if they aren't here yet, we still change the nectar every 2 days, just to keep it fresh.