In AFAmily Way (tips from one bird lover to another)

Abstract

Several years ago I began using a new brew in my hummingbird feeders which you might want to try. Many birds in the nectar sector seem to give it a 4-star rating and it is inexpensive and easy to prepare. It consists only of purified, boiled water, sugar and Grenadine and my neighborhood hummers hover a few feet above my head and chirp indignantly if they find their ambrosia absent.

During the first year of trial, my feeder was also visited by a pair of glorious, all-yellow birds which had long, dark, slender bills curved downward as in some of the hummingbirds. These birds were the size of a robin or slightly larger than a Western Mockingbird. She was the color of summer butter and he the golden yellow of a jonquil. The female apparently liked the fare so well she flew inside an open cage and set up housekeeping. Although the cage door was propped open and her mate remained at the feeder, she refused to be urged out (a nest box was still attached). Since we are not allowed to keep native birds, I kept trying to discourage her and she finally flew out. Every spring that pair returns for a few days, but there are no more open cage doors. Eventually it occurred to me that the golden birds must be some form of a Sunbird or Honeyeater, since there are no North American birds remotely resembling them. Possibly they are escapees who changed their minds and have decided that life inside the wires is more satisfying than outside.

Other kinds of birds also visit the feeders, but the hummers fiercely defend their feast; one little brown and orange fellow is too fast to even identify; however, I have since learned that when the feeder starts dripping its red juice, it is not due to faulty equipment, but simply because the feeder (I insist on the perch-type) is rocking after a visit by a bird heavier than a hummingbird. This makes me wonder if other captive, nectivorous birds might delight in this liquid.

There is a water-purifying set-up beneath the kitchen sink and I use this "good" water, boil it, then let it cool. For a two-cup feeder, the mixture (by volume) is three ounces of granulated sugar, three ounces of Grenadine syrup and 12 ounces of water. Just stir and serve. For a onequart feeder, the recipe is doubled. For some reason, this mix never seems to grow that black, yukky stuff in the bottom of the feeder. While the best place to find Grenadine syrup is in the liquor department, Grenadine itself is non-alcoholic; it consists primarily of corn syrup, water, citric acid and pomegranate juice.

Not long ago, I saw a quintet of hummingbirds sitting on the utility wires at the back of the property. The two birds on each end were normal sized and the three in the middle were slightly smaller. After watching them a while, I began to smile, realizing that my ruby rations may have contributed to the success of that happy farnily.

 

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