Hummingbirds are very fast animals. Their wings beat 80 times per second, and their heart beats up to 1,260 beats per minute. But their wings and circulatory systems aren’t the only things that are speedy.
Hummingbirds are tiny (only 3-4 grams in weight), but supporting such high metabolisms requires a lot of calories. If it were a person, a hummingbird would need to consume over 150,000 calories a day!
Hummingbirds eat up to two times their body weight in food every day to stay fueled. Many people think hummingbirds only drink nectar from plants or hummingbird feeders, but these little birds are omnivores and eat a variety of foods.
Hummingbirds also need sugar to sustain their high metabolism, and that’s where flower nectar comes in. Hummingbirds prefer flowers with nectar that has high sugar content, and they will reject flowers with nectar that doesn’t meet their standards.
Hummingbirds aren’t picky about their sugar, but sugar water mixtures should only be made with refined white sugar. You should never use other sugars, honey, sugar substitutes, or corn syrup.
Sugar water is an easy method to feed hummingbirds, but other foods attract and nourish them. These four alternatives to sugar water may attract more hummingbirds to your yard.
Hummingbirds enjoy the sugar water in hummingbird feeders, but their primary natural source for nectar is flowers. Hummingbird migration is seasonal and timed around the bloom schedule of flowers, so that they have plenty of food along the way.
Attracting insects to your garden may not seem like a great idea, but hummingbirds love areas with high concentrations of bugs for them to eat. Sugar water feeders often attract ants, which frustrates many people.