Winter Care for Hummingbirds

In the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, the Anna’s Hummingbirds tend to stay year-round. If you have decided to go ‘All In’ and feed your family of hummingbirds throughout the winter? Here is what you can do to keep your tiny friends happy and healthy.

Nectar, make your own using the handy 1 to 4 ratio, this mimics the sugar ratio in flower nectar. One measure of white sugar to 4 measures of water. Don’t use brown sugar, honey, molasses or stevia, no, no and heck no. The extras in those will harm the hummingbirds. I bring the water to a boil to remove chlorine and then add the sugar. Make sure your mixture cools off to room temp and then fill the feeder.

In the winter empty and clean your feeder once a week. Plain warm water or a diluted vinegar solution works best and I find a toothbrush works really well to get into all the nooks and crannies and small bristle brush cleaners or pipe cleaners work great to clean the openings. Rinse well. Clean feeders are important as hummingbirds are very susceptible to bacterial infections which can be fatal for them.

Placement under an overhang or using a humming bird feeder protective dome will help to keep your feeder sheltered even in driving snow or rain. I have my hummingbird feeder hanging in front of my kitchen window so I can see them feed and check to make sure the feeder is in good working order. Make sure it is somewhere you can have quick and easy access to in order to change the feeder. There are some great products to help you place your feeders where it makes sense.

Keep your feeder from freezing! Use a hummingbird feeder heater or bring in at night and place out early in the morning. I have extra feeders so I can switch out the feeders every few hours during the day on the super cold days when the feeders begin to freeze up.

Feeding hummingbirds is a serious responsibility in the winter. They need to feed every day to keep from starving. Your reward is you get to see some of these amazing creatures up close and personal and get to observe some of their very interesting behaviors. In time you will get to recognize the frequent feeders and be able to tell male from female and get to see some of the youngsters. You will get to play a part in Re-Naturing your yard!