My Frozen Hummingbird Feeder

The talk at the office this morning turned to the large number of hummingbirds in the area this winter.  I asked Ruth, who runs the Bird Watcher office, if she had kept her feeder out.  She replied that she did not because it was too much trouble to bring it in each time the temperature dropped below freezing.  Ruth, being the smart person that she is, is absolutely correct.  It is a lot of trouble to bring it in and put it back out.

I suggested that she just leave the feeder out.  Since sugar lowers the freezing point of the water, the nectar will not start to freeze until about 27 degrees.  It will not typically freeze solid until much lower.  The picture to the right shows one of my hummingbird feeders at 22 degrees, frozen but not broken.  I have never had a glass feeder crack in the winter.  Here's the fine print, though: I do not fill the feeders over halfway and I do not use feeders with plastic bottles.

"But the hummingbird can’t drink it when it is frozen so why leave it out?"

I told you Ruth was smart and she is right again!  However, the feeder will not be frozen on most days.  So if you feel it is too much trouble to bring it in and put it back out as the weather changes, just leave it out all the time.  A frozen feeder still has a much better chance of attracting a winter hummingbird than no feeder at all!  Of course if you do get a hummingbird, you will have to do a better job of keeping the feeder thawed.  There is a simple solution our two hummingbird banders recommend to winter hummer "hosts" - hang a spotlight near the feeder with a 100 watt outdoor flood in it.  The heat from the bulb is enough to keep the nectar from freezing.  Sometimes on very cold days, the hummingbird can been seen just sitting on the feeder, basking in the warm glow of the floodlight!