Hi Zeke,

You are doing every thing right so far;now it's up to the little hummers to appear.
There is always a debate about how to fix the sugar water solution;some say you need to boil the water,others do not. The important part is to change the solution every few days in the hot weather.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Zeke, it also helps if you have the right habitat nearby. They like to have at least some leafy trees around, and are said to be especially common in forest edges near water. They would tend not to be found in more barren, windswept areas. I'm not sure where you live in Iowa, but they are reaching the western limits of their range in your state, and probably are not as common in the more western parts of the state.

However, if you are surrounded by the right habitat, you might increase your chances by planting lots of flowers in your yard that are attractive to them. This could catch their attention more than would just an isolated feeder, or two.

You can search this forum and find all sorts of suggestions for good hummingbird plants. Trumpet vines, Bee Balm, certain salvias, Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), Honeysuckle, and Columbine are a few major ones that come to mind. There are many more.

Good Luck!

i have put the feeder next to a mulberry tree
and i do have lots of shadetrees in my yard
i went out to look at the feeder this morning
and i noticed that the feed is going down so evidently
without me seeing the hummers they are coming to feed .
i would like to start a flower bed that would attract hummingbirds .
thanks for the replies .
Zeke
Zeke

Sounds good! I think the flower bed is a great idea. This should help you attract and keep even more birds.

yea i wonder how to keep all the hummers happy as i have noticed that hummers ( male hummers particurly) seem to be quit territorial when more than one male hummer is at the feeder feeding .
Zeke

If you already have a few hummers, that's usually all you can expect. They're too territorial to have many in the same place, except during migration at "choke points" where feeders are abundant and hummers concentrated.

You can attract hummers by providing the flowers that they prefer. Salvias would probably do well in your zone for example, and cardinal vine if you can give it enough water.

Misting is a good attractant, again, if you can afford the water. Water is an important need for all birds, and particularly in a desert or drought or far from a stream you can greatly increase your variety and density of birds by providing standing, running, falling and spraying water. Hummers both drink and cool off in misters.