Feeding Hummingbirds

Massachusetts’s smallest breeding bird is the hummingbird, and it is not too late to attract some of these to your backyard! The most effective way to attract these birds is to use a feeder that has colorful red accents. When choosing a feeder, ensure the one that you choose has red feeding ports. While it is not beneficial or harmful to use red nectar in your feeder, many choose to use red nectar instead of clear nectar, given they feel more birds are attracted. If you are going to set up a feeder for this season, it would be best to do so within the next two weeks.

It is important to ensure that your hummingbird feeder remains clean, as that will ensure the health of the birds and their attraction to the feeder. Hummingbird feeders should be cleaned at least once per week. It is also important to keep ants and bees away from feeders, as those will deter hummingbirds.

If you’re looking to attract hummingbirds through methods other than a nectar feeder, some of their favorite plants are bee balm, honeysuckle vine, and pink turtlehead.

These are some of our staff favorites for feeding hummingbirds!