I agree. This is my favorite feeder as well in New England. The ease of filling and later cleaning makes it #1 in my book. Small pipe cleaner is all you need. The only negative is the small ant moat in the center. House finch, chickadees and Goldfinches have discovered the water source and visit throughout the day, inhibiting hummingbird access and too often leaving their droppings. Not a huge issue though.
Thank you for mentioning the ant moat ... I forgot to include that! Yes, I have had chickadees, cardinals, and mockingbirds (our goldfinches are gone - we only have them in the winter) prefer to drink water from the ant moat in the center instead of the bird baths. I have started using a red ant moat that I hang from my bird feeder system so the birds can drink from that and it has reduced them going to the hummingbird feeder ant moat. (I need the ant moat on the nectar feeders because we deal with fire ants down here that are attracted to the sugar water). Thank you for your comment! 😊🐛🦋🌺🐦
I love your morning videos. Your tranquil backyard garden sounds like the perfect spot to enjoy a morning cup of coffee. I also had a similar blown glass feeder that was beautiful but difficult to clean. I had to use baking soda and a toothbrush but it was worth the trouble. It finally broke last year and I replaced with the standard red ones from the big box stores which all slowly leaked nectar from the feeding ports no matter what I did. I finally switched to the flying saucer type you featured and they worked perfectly. I will try the nectar defender.
Thank you! I do love to be out in my garden and it is really peaceful. Those blown glass hummingbird feeders were like catnip to me - lol! I also used a toothbrush to clean them, but eventually just gave up. I like your description of "flying saucer type" feeders because that gives such a perfect description! Yes, try the nectar defender and let me know what you think. 😊🦋🐛🌺🐦
Glad you liked the video! That is a good suggestion on the hot glue. Since the hook also hangs from that same hole, I wonder if the hot glue would come loose though.
This is one of my favorites also, but have found bees/wasps/yellow jackets tend to love it too, & can crawl in the holes, even though I keep them clean.
Oh wow ... I haven't had that happen on mine! I purchased mine from Wild Birds Unlimited and they cannot get into the holes. I wouldn't like this type of feeder if they did get into the holes. That would be a headache!
My favorite is the same as yours. The main reason why is because I can see all of the hummingbirds so much easier than one with a tall resivour on it. Plus like you say, its so easy to clean.
we have bee hives and when we feed them we add lemon juice to make their nectar last and not spoil. I also use lemon juice now in my hummingbird nectar. I use a 1.5 quart pitcher and add 1.5 tsp. of bottled lemon juice to the 1.5 quart pitcher. The feeders do not get moldy when I use it.
Thank you for your review of feeders. Could you please include link to this feeder? I’m looking to change from glass bottle type feeders because they retain so much heat.
Hello! I purchased mine from a store called Wild Birds Unlimited. ( www.wbu.com/products/nectar-feeders/ ) You can also get a similar "style" from Amazon.
Up in Ohio, it's May 7th, 2024, and my heart nearly broke when I saw a ruby throat drawn to our empty RED seed feeder. She was disappointed and I felt so bad for her. That's why I'm here.
USING feeders from last year. all the red and yellow plastic feeders leaked !!! at the connection points which used a lid and base approach. even e6000 failed to seal. so i a going to use thefirst one you displayed. thank you
That is SO frustrating when hummingbird feeders leak! When I purchase something like this, I want it to last. This is the third season I am using these "high perch" or "saucer" type hummingbird feeders and I have been SO HAPPY with them. If you do get one, let me know what you think of it!
That is great! (I use vinegar and water to clean my bird baths.) It is so important to keep those hummingbird feeders clean. I haven't seen a lot of hummingbirds yet here south of Houston at the end of August.
Hello I'm new to your channel and I am a novelist to the hummingbird feeding .So, you've mention feeding the hummingbird once a week and I know it 1/4 sugar and 1/2 water and clean your feed offen so I read but can make enough of the liquid and stored for next feeding or or do you do it fresh every time?Thank you
I make the nectar with 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. So, I use 1/4 cup of sugar to and 1 cup of water. If you have extra you can keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
7:27 that one sucks because the most, when it rocks side to side some will slip underneath the bee guard and that made the bees plus yellow jackets come more
If you are dealing with ants, purchase an "ant moat for hummingbird feeders" and they won't be able to get to the nectar. (You can search on Amazon). The hummingbird feeders I use have ant moats built in, but if you already have hummingbird feeders, buying just the ant moat will work too.
Quibble: On the copper feeder, the rain wasn't coming in through a hole in the top but in via the flowers at the bottom. (I had a very similar model, with the same problem.) The other, purple and yellow one must have done a better job at keeping the rain from going in that way. (This is probably a combo of the overhang and the tilt of the flower ports). The flower ports on the copper feeder aren't protected by any overhang, and the horizontal, cup-shaped flowers catch and funnel the rain water. I can guarantee (yes, really) that the "hole" on top only goes through the copper cap, but not through the glass jar it's fastened to. If there was a hole at the top, you wouldn't have a nectar feeder. This is because of some very simple, very common physics -- if there was such a hole, the nectar would simply pour out of the feeder right away, as soon as you turn the feeder upside up. The glass part couldn't work as a "reservoir" -- it would just be a rather fancy pipe or tube. The tray style feeders are my favorite style, too. (Most of the hummingbirds around here seem to prefer them too.) Cleaning hummingbird feeders _diligently_ doesn't _seem_ like a big task or terribly inconvenient -- but needing to clean them carefully and _regularly_ gets very tiresome, surprisingly quickly.
Your quibble is very valid - thanks for posting! 😊 I described it very poorly, and I apologize about that. The hole in the top was a major problem because the water would just run down the length of the glass and into the base of the feeder because it was not water tight where the glass screwed onto the base. With every drop dripping down the glass you could visually see the water inside the feeder get cloudy and that drop "mix in". Now, had the hole not been there, the water would have still run over the side of the ant moat and down the glass into the feeder when the ant moat filled up with water. So, for heavier rains that would still have been an issue. But it was an issue with every rain. Honestly, not being water tight where the glass screwed into the base was the main problem. The little flowers could also have been a problem, but I was able to observe the issue directly with the glass cylinder. I also agree with you on your cleaning comments! What zone are you in?
@@ButterfliesNBirds I see what you mean with the route the rain-water takes -- I can see how that might happen, too. I do have a couple of glass, vertical style feeders (gravity-fed saucer type) that are much better designed, and I put one of them out when there's lots of birds or I might be away a few days. They don't have that problem with the rain, keep the bees/wasps out, and don't leak, even when it's windy or the temperatures swing up and down. They're also as easy to clean as a vertical type feeder gets. (They were clearly designed by someone who actually understood what they were doing, and was properly aware of the usual design errors.) I'm currently stuck with just an apartment balcony, which gets plenty of wind and lots of rain, so good design and construction matters. I'm in zone 8b -- but _way_ north of you, in British Columbia, Canada.
PS: Those pure gravity-fed feeders with the ball-cage bee-guards are terrible. (A friend of mine describes them as "designed to fail", and she's got a good point.) They're very pretty (elegant? easy to sell, at any rate), but tend to leak terribly, especially when temperatures swing a lot, and do a distinctly poor job at deterring the bees and wasps.
I so agree with the "designed to fail" comment on the feeders with the bee-guards. I so dislike them. Down here in the high heat and humidity they don't keep the bees and wasps away, rather they attract them. This type gets so dirty for me. As you know, I only use the saucer type feeders now. BUT, I also don't get large numbers of hummingbirds at one time. I think this year was the most we had at one time during the annual fall hummingbird migration and that was about 50 hummingbirds at a time. Since my neighbor also has numerous feeders up, my feeders never run out of nectar. I know some people get so many hummers that they have to fill their feeders very often.
Oh, very nice - British Columbia! I bet you get a good number of hummingbirds due to your location. 😊 Wind and rain are a definite issue with hummingbird feeders, so good design really does matter. When I first purchased hummingbird feeders I never considered that and purchased on price point and what I visually liked. Boy did I learn. We don't usually have a lot of wind down here, but we get a lot of rain. Thank you again for your thoughtful and useful comments. Being in zone 8b, do you by any chance have any hummingbirds that are with you year round? We will usually have 2-3 hummingbirds that overwinter with us here in 9a.
That is a great question because some of the feeders I went through in this video did have water seep into the nectar and ruin it. But this design did not have water from rains get into it.
I love the feeder but hummingbirds don't need anything but sugarwater. I live in southeast Tennessee I changed My hummingbird feeders out every other day until it's ubove 80°F and I change them daily. The trick is put the amount they are drinking but no feeder should go more then 3 days without cleaning for any reason, it has nothing to do with the necture but the port openings from things on the hummingbirds beaks
Thanks for sharing! In my yard the hummers prefer the blooms and bugs over the sugar water. (I apologize if I gave the impression I used something different). Your advice for putting out just the amount they are using is a great way to save nectar. 👍😊
I don’t like the fancy feeders as they are too hard to get clean. I use the cheap Walmart feeders. Hummies love them and bees can’t get in them. I make my own nectar, so much safer for them and I clean them out every other day
I agree. This is my favorite feeder as well in New England. The ease of filling and later cleaning makes it #1 in my book. Small pipe cleaner is all you need. The only negative is the small ant moat in the center. House finch, chickadees and Goldfinches have discovered the water source and visit throughout the day, inhibiting hummingbird access and too often leaving their droppings. Not a huge issue though.
Thank you for mentioning the ant moat ... I forgot to include that! Yes, I have had chickadees, cardinals, and mockingbirds (our goldfinches are gone - we only have them in the winter) prefer to drink water from the ant moat in the center instead of the bird baths. I have started using a red ant moat that I hang from my bird feeder system so the birds can drink from that and it has reduced them going to the hummingbird feeder ant moat. (I need the ant moat on the nectar feeders because we deal with fire ants down here that are attracted to the sugar water). Thank you for your comment! 😊🐛🦋🌺🐦
I love your morning videos. Your tranquil backyard garden sounds like the perfect spot to enjoy a morning cup of coffee.
I also had a similar blown glass feeder that was beautiful but difficult to clean. I had to use baking soda and a toothbrush but it was worth the trouble. It finally broke last year and I replaced with the standard red ones from the big box stores which all slowly leaked nectar from the feeding ports no matter what I did.
I finally switched to the flying saucer type you featured and they worked perfectly. I will try the nectar defender.
Thank you! I do love to be out in my garden and it is really peaceful. Those blown glass hummingbird feeders were like catnip to me - lol! I also used a toothbrush to clean them, but eventually just gave up. I like your description of "flying saucer type" feeders because that gives such a perfect description! Yes, try the nectar defender and let me know what you think. 😊🦋🐛🌺🐦
They sit on the leaves of the little blue round feeder. They love the one I have!
That is wonderful!!! I love watching hummingbirds in the yard!
The blown glass one is so pretty you can just use it as a decoration somewhere. Even in the house.
That is a good idea! 😊🐛🦋🌺🐦
Love the reviews of hummingbird feeder. The one you could hot glue over the hole over the glass one to keep rain water out.
Glad you liked the video! That is a good suggestion on the hot glue. Since the hook also hangs from that same hole, I wonder if the hot glue would come loose though.
This is one of my favorites also, but have found bees/wasps/yellow jackets tend to love it too, & can crawl in the holes, even though I keep them clean.
Oh wow ... I haven't had that happen on mine! I purchased mine from Wild Birds Unlimited and they cannot get into the holes. I wouldn't like this type of feeder if they did get into the holes. That would be a headache!
😂oh my goodness, I KNEW there'd be a sweet hero who compared!
God bless you, ma'am!
I'm glad you found this helpful! 😊 Thank you for your comment.
Loved your videos! Very helpful.
Glad it was helpful! 👍😀
Love the hummingbird information -
So glad you liked it - thanks for the comment!
My favorite is the same as yours. The main reason why is because I can see all of the hummingbirds so much easier than one with a tall resivour on it. Plus like you say, its so easy to clean.
Good point and I agree with you - you can see the hummingbirds better on this type of feeder!
we have bee hives and when we feed them we add lemon juice to make their nectar last and not spoil. I also use lemon juice now in my hummingbird nectar. I use a 1.5 quart pitcher and add 1.5 tsp. of bottled lemon juice to the 1.5 quart pitcher. The feeders do not get moldy when I use it.
I have not heard that before. How often do you change the nectar when you use it?
Thank you for your review of feeders. Could you please include link to this feeder? I’m looking to change from glass bottle type feeders because they retain so much heat.
Hello! I purchased mine from a store called Wild Birds Unlimited.
( www.wbu.com/products/nectar-feeders/ ) You can also get a similar "style" from Amazon.
Thank you good info.
Glad it was helpful! 😊🐛🦋🐝🐦🌺
Up in Ohio, it's May 7th, 2024, and my heart nearly broke when I saw a ruby throat drawn to our empty RED seed feeder. She was disappointed and I felt so bad for her. That's why I'm here.
I totally understand how that feels! Good luck with the hummingbird nectar feeder you get. Are there many nectar flowers yet where you are in Ohio?
USING feeders from last year. all the red and yellow plastic feeders leaked !!! at the connection points which used a lid and base approach. even e6000 failed to seal. so i a going to use thefirst one you displayed. thank you
That is SO frustrating when hummingbird feeders leak! When I purchase something like this, I want it to last. This is the third season I am using these "high perch" or "saucer" type hummingbird feeders and I have been SO HAPPY with them. If you do get one, let me know what you think of it!
The one you chose I had one similar. It broke at the hanger connector point
Bummer! 😕 I got mine from Wild Birds Unlimited and they are sturdy.
You can use the beautiful glass feeder as a planter
That would be a good use for it. It isn't large, but it is pretty. 😊
I bring my feeders in and soak them overnight in a vinegar and water solution. This is a natural disinfectant and I do this once a week.
That is great! (I use vinegar and water to clean my bird baths.) It is so important to keep those hummingbird feeders clean. I haven't seen a lot of hummingbirds yet here south of Houston at the end of August.
Hello I'm new to your channel and I am a novelist to the hummingbird feeding .So, you've mention feeding the hummingbird once a week and I know it 1/4 sugar and 1/2 water and clean your feed offen so I read but can make enough of the liquid and stored for next feeding or or do you do it fresh every time?Thank you
I make the nectar with 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. So, I use 1/4 cup of sugar to and 1 cup of water. If you have extra you can keep it covered in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Thank you !✌🦋
7:27 that one sucks because the most, when it rocks side to side some will slip underneath the bee guard and that made the bees plus yellow jackets come more
And it doesn't take too much wind to make it rock!
What is the brand of your 2nd favorite (blown glass) one?
Oh golly, I don't know the brand of that glass blown hummingbird feeder. But I purchased it at Lowe's.
I have the first one you showed and I’m getting huge ants climbing up and getting into the nectar
If you are dealing with ants, purchase an "ant moat for hummingbird feeders" and they won't be able to get to the nectar. (You can search on Amazon). The hummingbird feeders I use have ant moats built in, but if you already have hummingbird feeders, buying just the ant moat will work too.
I’m thinking of doing the s
These are the only hummingbird feeders I now use.
Quibble:
On the copper feeder, the rain wasn't coming in through a hole in the top but in via the flowers at the bottom. (I had a very similar model, with the same problem.)
The other, purple and yellow one must have done a better job at keeping the rain from going in that way. (This is probably a combo of the overhang and the tilt of the flower ports). The flower ports on the copper feeder aren't protected by any overhang, and the horizontal, cup-shaped flowers catch and funnel the rain water.
I can guarantee (yes, really) that the "hole" on top only goes through the copper cap, but not through the glass jar it's fastened to. If there was a hole at the top, you wouldn't have a nectar feeder. This is because of some very simple, very common physics -- if there was such a hole, the nectar would simply pour out of the feeder right away, as soon as you turn the feeder upside up. The glass part couldn't work as a "reservoir" -- it would just be a rather fancy pipe or tube.
The tray style feeders are my favorite style, too. (Most of the hummingbirds around here seem to prefer them too.) Cleaning hummingbird feeders _diligently_ doesn't _seem_ like a big task or terribly inconvenient -- but needing to clean them carefully and _regularly_ gets very tiresome, surprisingly quickly.
Your quibble is very valid - thanks for posting! 😊
I described it very poorly, and I apologize about that. The hole in the top was a major problem because the water would just run down the length of the glass and into the base of the feeder because it was not water tight where the glass screwed onto the base. With every drop dripping down the glass you could visually see the water inside the feeder get cloudy and that drop "mix in". Now, had the hole not been there, the water would have still run over the side of the ant moat and down the glass into the feeder when the ant moat filled up with water. So, for heavier rains that would still have been an issue. But it was an issue with every rain. Honestly, not being water tight where the glass screwed into the base was the main problem. The little flowers could also have been a problem, but I was able to observe the issue directly with the glass cylinder.
I also agree with you on your cleaning comments!
What zone are you in?
@@ButterfliesNBirds I see what you mean with the route the rain-water takes -- I can see how that might happen, too.
I do have a couple of glass, vertical style feeders (gravity-fed saucer type) that are much better designed, and I put one of them out when there's lots of birds or I might be away a few days. They don't have that problem with the rain, keep the bees/wasps out, and don't leak, even when it's windy or the temperatures swing up and down. They're also as easy to clean as a vertical type feeder gets. (They were clearly designed by someone who actually understood what they were doing, and was properly aware of the usual design errors.)
I'm currently stuck with just an apartment balcony, which gets plenty of wind and lots of rain, so good design and construction matters.
I'm in zone 8b -- but _way_ north of you, in British Columbia, Canada.
PS: Those pure gravity-fed feeders with the ball-cage bee-guards are terrible. (A friend of mine describes them as "designed to fail", and she's got a good point.)
They're very pretty (elegant? easy to sell, at any rate), but tend to leak terribly, especially when temperatures swing a lot, and do a distinctly poor job at deterring the bees and wasps.
I so agree with the "designed to fail" comment on the feeders with the bee-guards. I so dislike them. Down here in the high heat and humidity they don't keep the bees and wasps away, rather they attract them. This type gets so dirty for me. As you know, I only use the saucer type feeders now. BUT, I also don't get large numbers of hummingbirds at one time. I think this year was the most we had at one time during the annual fall hummingbird migration and that was about 50 hummingbirds at a time. Since my neighbor also has numerous feeders up, my feeders never run out of nectar. I know some people get so many hummers that they have to fill their feeders very often.
Oh, very nice - British Columbia! I bet you get a good number of hummingbirds due to your location. 😊 Wind and rain are a definite issue with hummingbird feeders, so good design really does matter. When I first purchased hummingbird feeders I never considered that and purchased on price point and what I visually liked. Boy did I learn. We don't usually have a lot of wind down here, but we get a lot of rain. Thank you again for your thoughtful and useful comments. Being in zone 8b, do you by any chance have any hummingbirds that are with you year round? We will usually have 2-3 hummingbirds that overwinter with us here in 9a.
Do you have issues with the rain ruining the nectar on your favorite feeder?
That is a great question because some of the feeders I went through in this video did have water seep into the nectar and ruin it. But this design did not have water from rains get into it.
I love the feeder but hummingbirds don't need anything but sugarwater. I live in southeast Tennessee I changed My hummingbird feeders out every other day until it's ubove 80°F and I change them daily. The trick is put the amount they are drinking but no feeder should go more then 3 days without cleaning for any reason, it has nothing to do with the necture but the port openings from things on the hummingbirds beaks
Thanks for sharing! In my yard the hummers prefer the blooms and bugs over the sugar water. (I apologize if I gave the impression I used something different). Your advice for putting out just the amount they are using is a great way to save nectar. 👍😊
Is ka naam kay hain
It is called a tray nectar feeder for hummingbirds.
I don’t like the fancy feeders as they are too hard to get clean. I use the cheap Walmart feeders. Hummies love them and bees can’t get in them. I make my own nectar, so much safer for them and I clean them out every other day
That is wonderful!!! You are keeping the hummers safe and happy!!! 😍
Just get to the facts
Sorry about that - I thought I did by putting my favorite first. I will continue to try to improve. 😊