A Banquet for Your Hummers!
Read by Sally, one of your Three Crones and a Microphone
Good afternoon. This is Sally, one of your three trusty crones from Two Crones and a Microphone, here with a little solo adventure of mine.
I decided to start recording the blogs I’ve been writing. Why? Because my sister-in-law told me she was having a hard time reading them. Her eyesight’s changing as she gets older, and she found it challenging to figure out how to get on the website, find the blog, and read it comfortably. So this is my attempt to offer those reflections in a different way—spoken aloud, as little shorts—so folks can simply listen instead of scroll.
The most recent blog is called A Banquet for Your Hummers, or Welcoming in Your Joy-Filled Hummingbirds. Personally, I love hummingbirds, so it was a pleasure to write and now to share it this way.
So—how are you feeding your hummingbirds?
Some of us are garden folks. We plant flowers to attract bees and hummers because we love the process. We want to eat the food that comes from the earth, and we want to create a space that invites beauty and life. Others of us like to use hummingbird feeders. When I was working, I had one of those little feeders you could hook right onto a window, so I could see the birds while I worked.
A lot of people do both—plant flowers and put up feeders. Either way, you’re creating a banquet for your hummers.
Now, if you’ve ever Googled hummingbird nectar recipes, you’ll find plenty. You’ll also find lots of opinions—how much sugar to use, whether to buy premade nectar, whether to use red dye or not.
After reading quite a bit, I ended up exactly where I started: with the same method I’ve always used—plain white granulated sugar, mixed at the ratio of one part sugar to four parts water.
Spring water is lovely if you have it, but tap water works just fine. And it was encouraging to see that this basic formula is still the best practice.
Here’s why it matters: hummingbirds are specialized nectarivores. They feed on dilute sugar solutions that naturally contain small amounts of amino acids and electrolytes. That’s what they get from flower nectar.
But using honey, corn syrup, or other sugars? That’s dangerous. Those sugars ferment and mold more quickly than granulated sugar, and mold can grow both in the nectar and inside your feeder. That mold can cause a fatal tongue infection in hummingbirds. So please—stick with plain white sugar.
This 1:4 ratio mimics the sugar concentration found in wildflower nectar, and the preparation is simple:
To make your own hummingbird nectar:
- Boil 1 cup of water
- Stir in ¼ cup of white granulated sugar
- Mix until the sugar is fully dissolved
- Let it cool completely
- Fill your feeder and serve!
Any leftover nectar can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.
This higher sugar concentration is especially helpful during migration, or when male hummingbirds are defending their territory and females are nesting. Once your local hummingbirds have been visiting for a few weeks, you can lower the concentration slightly and they’ll still feed happily—especially if your garden is blooming.
I love watching them—darting in and out, chasing each other off the feeder, zooming back in, feeding, and then taking off again. It’s a joy to witness, and if you’re someone who likes to meditate or sit outside with a cup of something warm, they make wonderful companions.
If you want a little extra entertainment, I linked a video in the blog from BBC Earth—it’s called Male Hummingbirds Fight for Nectar. It’s just a two-minute clip on YouTube, and it’s a delight to watch.
Now, if you’re a planter: what should you grow?
You likely have your own favorite flowers or bushes, and while I’m not a master gardener, I do know that native species are your best bet for attracting local hummingbirds.
Some excellent options include:
- Bee balm
- Garden phlox
- Red columbine
- Bougainvillea
- Trumpet vine
- Firebush
- Blue asters
- Echinacea
- Agastache (Hummingbird mint)
- Aquilegia
- Allium
- Lobelia
- Catmint
- And the whole range of salvias
Basically, anything with bright colors, tubular blossoms, or quick, accessible nectar will attract hummingbirds—and bees will love them too.
There are a few helpful resources linked in the blog post itself, including guides to hummingbird-friendly plants and more on safe feeding practices. So if you’re curious, head over to the Travel the Twelve Moons blog and take a look.
Thanks for listening—and I look forward to sharing more with you next time.
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