Bring Out Your Hummingbird Feeders!

Tiny little hummingbirds have arrived in the Kansas City area, and they want your sugar-water!

Last year, we had quite a few of the zippy little things. They would chirp past my head when I sat near their feeder to read or converse at our umbrella table.

To feed them, just use 1 part sugar to 4 parts water, and put it in a hummingbird feeder. You don't need the expensive powders they sell in stores, and you certainly don't need food coloring, which can be bad for the little guys. My feeder has little perches so they can relax a second while sipping nectar, but they'll visit any feeder with a red attractor. I have a small test tube on one of our windows with a fed cap on it with a hole in it, and they visit that one, too.

For those keeping track, here's a map of when the first sightings of ruby-throated hummingbirds were turned in throughout the country, from Hummingbirds.net.