I'll bet that was one relieved hummingbird! I cannot figure out what they are thinking to go to such risks just to get a private feeder. A few Anna's seem to relish the daredevil lifestyle.

The hummingbird is very lucky to have you as it's keeper.

brrrr, how do you keep the nectar from freezing? do you make your own?

It wasn't that cold......only a few degrees below freezing, so the nectar was not frozen. And yes, I always make my own. Typically a 4:1 ratio but I bump that up a bit in the middle of winter, more like 3:1.

oh good to know, what do you think about using other types of sugar such as coconut, cane or brown.

I just use pure cane sugar. That in a 4:1 ratio is about as close to natural plant nectar as one can get. I have no intention to risk the health of my birds with anything else:-)

Of course, the health of the birdies is essential <3. Just got curious of which types of sugar could be use. Working on getting some plants together for them to have as the warm weather rolls around!

what! winter clematis? I'll have to check those out. Your winter garden collection sounds lovely.

BTW, Honey will kill them. It supports a toxic fungus.

http://www.hummingbirdsociety.org/feeding-hummingbirds/

gardengal, we had received one of these goofy heated feeders as a gift never used.

We had to be gone last weekend and I dug it out, filled with a 3:1 ratio instead of my normal 4:1. Hung it from a cup hook twisted up under the eaves so snow or freezing rain couldn't clog the ports. I put cup hooks up for the other three feeders too and moved those where they would stay dry overnight, hoping the little guys wouldn't have problems finding their relocated dining. All seems to have worked well, or at least I have the same number of birds this week as I did last week, no casualties ;0)

They love the slightly warmed nectar. That little feeder is a real pain to clean and refill. But, I may leave it up another week or two and give them a barely warmed breakfast on cold mornings. After that, will be back to only those more user friendly to me ;0)

morz, although we got our fair share of snow here (way more than expected!!), it never got horribly cold here and the nectar in the feeder never froze. I did need to go out and get snow off it several times, however. And refill it a couple of times as well.......they were using both feeders pretty heavily. And they were waiting and watching :-) Buzzed around me eagerly as I worked on the feeders and settled in for a feed as soon as I rehung them!!

It sounds like they may recognize you as Mom. I don't think mine make any connection between me and their food. I'm the danger to their feeders, and they shriek and dive at me whenever I'm near them. Most of the time I'll clean and refill after dark, sparing them the threat that I am.

I think I remembre reading somewhere that brown sugar contains too much iron and you should only use white table sugar (no red dye) for nectar. I also do 3:1 for spring/fall migration times.