Need advice. What's their favorite feeder?

I'm putting up my first feeder today. I bought it several years ago, but have never used it. I have a hummingbird garden and we have hummers, but I want to put up several feeders. This one has 4 feeding stations with bee guards. I've done some reading, but before I buy any more, I wanted to ask what you guys have the most success with. I would really like to get some of the 'fancy' ones, but they don't always have red feeding stations or bee guards. What are the most important things to look for? I don't want to go for aesthetics if the hummers won't like them.

Hi grampapa,
We have LOTS of Hummingbirds and feeders..they seem to like the ones where they can sit on the little feet rests. The funny thing is we also have an Oriole feeder (with oriole mix) and they like that the best.
Hope this helps you decide.
Bev

Good morning! My hummers like any and all feeders but I like the saucer shaped ones best as they are easier to fill and clean.

I can't say enough about Hummzingers. They have a built in ant moat. They are Bee proof. They don't drip or leak. They have a perch for landing and feeding. They are VERY easy to clean. You can easily see how full they are and if the nectar gets cloudy at all. They don't look bad at all. One thing that I do is when I clean them I scrub each hole with a soapy pipe cleaner. It removes the hard to get to residue. Then finish up cleaning and rinsing.

Mark

Hummzinger by far is the best feeder I have ever had. So easy to clean and as you can tell from the pic our hummer likes it too.

Sorry this is the picture I meant to send.

Hefner Plastics also makes an excellent hummer feeder. At the point where the reservoir attaches to the flowers, the reservoir does not taper down to a small opening so that you have to use a bottle brush to clean it. No bottle brush required. The opening is quite large so that any type of dish cleaning brush can be used. They are very easy to clean. They are made at Lake Coleman near Coleman, TX and the folks are quite nice. I don't think that they have their own website anymore, but you can find them easily at other stores by just doing a search on "Hefner Plastics".

The only kind that I have found that I DON'T like are the fancy glass ones that look like a flower. The ones I'm talking about generally only have a single feeding port in the center of the flower. The problem is that unless you can hang them under a roof of some kind, they fill up, overflow, and dilute the solution with every rain, even a light shower.

Thanks, everyone, for the input. I never thought about that with the glass ones, scutler. No way to keep the rain out. I've been looking at the hummzinger. and I'll look for the
Hefner. I really like the sound of 'easy to clean'.

I didn't think of the rain problem with those glass flower feeders either. That's why I now have one gathering dust in the garage.; ) I'm tempted to try that hummzinger myself.

I currently have 6 feeders out. I rarely see multilples at a feeder. The primary thing to look for is ease of cleaning. The one thing the hummers like is fresh food from a clean feeder. Our heat is hard on feeders so I buy cheap as they fade quickly. Cheap, I can justify replacing.

The two newest feeders (& the only two currently hung and in-use) .. appear to be the same or similar, to those posted here on the thread.

The name on the top of the feeder, is .. Perky-Pet Brand 'Oasis'.

Thinkin' I may need to go ahead and fill and hang another, but larger feeder tho'. The number of visitors waned for about a week - but after a good soaking rain a few days ago - they've swarmed back in, and are in a feeding frenzy. (hee) With such rampant activity of the lil flying jewels, I lost count after a bakers dozen ...

- Magpye

I vote for the humdingerey thingy... easy to clean easy access. I have five of them and all get used everyday. The hummers seem to ignore the bottle type if they have these close.

After filling the feeders with sweetness, I find my King hummer sitting in the onion patch the am. Must have been some delectable buggy or something.

I like the feeders that have a little perch so they can take a load off, and I can watch them without my eyes hurting.

OK, my next feeder is going to be a humdinger!

I've got some little plastic faceted ones that work like the one in the first photo, and they do a good "business." I've also got one that's a simple plastic tube with a single feeding port (with bee guard) at the bottom that's meant to hang from a wire support stuck into a planter.

I've tried the beautiful blown glass feeders with a little tube spout at the bottom, but when you hang them in full sun (which is about all that's available here), they drip continually and attract way more ants than hummers.

Critterologist, I put vaseline on the wire or whatever it hangs from, ants don't like this.

I use olive or cooking oil to deter ants.

I use a Best-1 hummingbird feeder. I have 3 actually. There's two pieces to the bottom part (feeding part), so it's really easy to clean.

It amazes me that you guys get multiple hummers sharing a feeder. Although mine has multiple ports, if one bird is feeding and another comes around it's all out war until only one remains

Karen

I agree, the multiple ports are wasted most of the time. The ensuing chase is fun though.

It looks like Hefner Plastics does have a web site showing their hummer feeders and the ones I saw were under $10.00. I couldn't figure out how to attach the site so just do a search on Hefner Plastics. They didn't have the one that grampapa showed but the others looked real easy to clean.

Hello!
Those of you using a Best-1 feeder -- Please go to www.hummingbirds.net. Go to the home page and click on Modifying a Best -1 feeder. Wanted to alert everyone using these! I had read this a while ago but didn't pay attention because I use different types of feeders. But seeing the Best-1 name in this thread made the wheels start turning!
Please do check this out.

Actually, I was talking about ants coming to the sugar water once it had dripped out of my fancy blown-glass feeder, no longer in use. But I wanted to comment on the suggestions for deterring ants. The Hummingbird Hints page at Project Wildlife says if you have an ant moat on your feeder, fill only with water, and "Avoid the use of petroleum jelly, cooking oil or tangle foot type products on feeders to deter insects."

I have several feeders out and I like my Yule-Hyde Associates Co. feeder. I have the window hummingbird feeder. Two parts put in the top of the dishwasher. I can look out my kitchen window and watch them upclose. At night it doubles as a tree frog perch.

Aren't those guys cute... I get one on the glass door at night. They have suction cup feet and from the inside is cool to watch.

Thanks, Darline. They really do come right up to the window? I love your tree frog!

I have both Perkey Pets and saucer type feeders I like the suacer type for the ease of cleaning.

Check out this site. I have this small feeder stuck to my computer room window. The hummingbirds love it. You can even see their tongues lap the water. ( I can watch with just inches between us.) There is also a large saucer type like the small window one. I also have a hummzinger and one other type of saucer. As my Perky Pets break I will be replacing them with saucer types. Not because the hummers don't love them but because they are such a pain to clean.

http://www.thebirdshed.com/bfa8ozhuwife.html

I have 6 feeders placed around my house and all are used. I have had 4 hummers use all four ports too. Especially when they start migrating south and that will begin in just a few short weeks. I have seen 8 jocking for a place at the feeder.

Thank you for the update on the Best-1 feeder!! I have been using this feeder for several years, and I love it because it is easy to clean, and it does not attract bees and wasps. (Those little yellow bee guards are actually bee attractors!) They also give the hummer a chance to rest while feeding. I have never had a problem with it (no hummers killed or stuck), but to be safe, I will modify it right away!! I would have been sick if this had happened!
CJ

You're very welcome CJ! The hummers give us so much enjoyment !
Happy Humming.

One of the drawbacks for me with the Best1 is that you still have to use a bottlebrush to clean the glass container. I just don't like having to use a bottlebrush.

OK, despite the advice I found about it, I ended up using vaseline on the shepherd's hook to deter ants... I just put it far enough away from the feeder that (hopefully) it won't get on anybody's feathers.

But I'm tired of replacing the vaseline, and I'm looking into ant moats... I just bought a Perky Pet AntGuard with permethrin, but at $7..50 each I don't know if I want to buy them for 3 or 4 feeders every year. My question is about the water-filled ant moats... They look like they would work, but it seems to me that the water would evaporate so fast that I'd have to refill them every day. ?? Maybe I can make an extra-large DIY one.

For those of you with Hummzinger feeders, how much water does the ant moat hold, how often do you have to refill it, and is it effective?

Thanks!

PS. If anyone notices a great clearance sale on Hummzinger feeders (8 oz), please post a link!!

critter, I have the hummzinger, but I don't have ants, so I can't help...sorry. let you know if I see any sales. btw, this hummzinger has turned out to be their favorite.

gram

I definitely have to get at least one hummzinger for next year... with all the yummy flowers in the garden now, we are attracting more hummers to our feeders also! I'm thinking I'd rather replace my existing feeders with HummZingers than shell out for ant guards for my current feeders...

Hey, I just had an idea about the water evaporation issue... Is there any reason why I couldn't coat the inside of an ant moat with petroleum jelly?? That should prevent ants from crossing even if the moat goes dry, and I don't see how the vaseline could bother the birds if it's down inside the moat. It seems unlikely that there would be water soluble toxins in vaseline that would be a problem for any critter drinking from the moat when it fills up with rainwater....

??

The problem I've found with the hummzinger is that the liquid gets lower as the hummers feed, so that they have to really probe. With a bottle filler, the moat level remains constant...and the moat is refilled with fresh sugar water from the bottle.

critter - I use an ant trap called "trap-it". It is very effective and holds 2/3 cup water. I only have to refill it occasionally - when cleaning and refilling the feeder would be plenty often. I really like it.
http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=WLA-S-10008

Thanks, ceejay!

I'm still thinking through using a water-moat ant trap with vaseline in it... Check out this upside-down one, http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=DET-AA That design just seems perfect for use with petroleum jelly instead of water... ?

Well....$9.95 vs $5.49 and the trap-it is red, another attractant for the hummer. I once used vaseline on a feeder pole - to keep squirrels from running up it. It was REALLY fun for awhile, but once it got dirty, it lost it effectiveness.

Edited to say - It wasn't Vaseline, it was Crisco shortening.



This message was edited Aug 16, 2006 7:17 PM

FYI I ran across this interesting article from Bird Watcher's Digest--

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/hummingbirds/feeder_round_up/hummer_feeder_roundup.aspx

They did a comparison experiment with several different (large) feeders and printed the results in this article.

Not exactly scientific, but the results are interesting.

We have used several different feeders in the past few years and I definitely vote for the ones that are easy to fill and clean!

Right now the feeder that is the most fun is a little square feeder stuck onto the dining room bay window with suction cups. The HBs are loving it and it's fun to be so 'up close and personal' with the birds.

http://www.bizrate.com/birdsupplies/mid55089/oid411864567.html

I have a window feeder, too. One of the saucer types. It may not be the hummers favorite, but it's my favorite LOL. Yesterday my hairdresser came to cut my hair and saw a hummer at my window feeder. She'd never seen a hummingbird before, so she was really excited.

http://www.bestnest.com/bestnest/RTProduct.asp?SKU=HF-7930

tabasco, I took a look at the testing on the large feeders. as you said, it's interesting. but I don't have enough hummers for it to be a problem for me. I have several small feeders and only fill them part way.