Hummingbird feeding tubes are what we will be discussing in this post. Hummingbirds are very little beautiful birds that bird lovers always find attractive to watch. They are attractive in their own way with very unique characteristics. They have a distinctive bill, a unique size (considered to be the smallest bird in the world), and special flight patterns amongst other attributes.
If you are a hummingbird lover, then you may want to take steps to attract this lovely creature around your home, garden, and yard. This can be actualized by planting the right type of nectar-producing colorful flowers around you. You may also decide to put out a hummingbird feeder.
Hummingbirds are a voracious feeder and this is no surprise considering the amount of energy they expend. They are therefore attracted to bright-colored feeders with a sugar-water solution. You are therefore sure to attract these lovely birds by hanging a hummingbird feeder filled with their food.
This article gives you insight into how you may go about making a hummingbird feeder with the use of feeding tubes. This article also discusses when it becomes necessary to use a hummingbird feeding tube and how to go about it.
How To Design A Hummingbird Feeding Tube
The feeding tube is used in situations where the homemade hummingbird is not one the birds can feed on directly. So in instances where you intend to use a wine bottle or a container, the birds cannot drink directly from, adding a feeding tube becomes necessary.
It is pretty easy to construct a feeder using a hummingbird feeder tube and they are also relatively inexpensive. What you need essentially is a bottle not too big in size, a hummingbird tube, and then a stopper.
The first step involves filling the bottle with hummingbird food. Thereafter, you should try to fit a tube into the opening of the bottle. You may need to be careful to ensure that the tube is one that fits the opening of the bottle tightly. Then you should get a measured and tempered stopper.
When you fill the feeder with hummingbird food, you hang it at a convenient spot, and both the stopper and tube are then inverted. There is a vacuum created inside the container which helps to balance the weight of the liquid inside the bottle.
Read more about Unusual Hummingbird Feeders
Benefits Of Using A Tube-style Hummingbird Feeder
The following are some of the benefits of using a hummingbird feeding tube:
- These feeders are usually small: this is one advantage of using this type of feeder as the amount of food it can contain is relatively small. This means that it gets refilled often. This no doubt is of great advantage to the health of the hummingbirds.
- Recycling of bottles and containers: this hummingbird feeding style allows for the utilization of used liquor bottles, vases, beer bottles, decanter tops, salad dressing bottles, champagne bottles, and other used containers and bottles. This is beneficial to our environment.
- It is relatively cheap and easy to make: this is another advantage of using this style of the hummingbird feeder. The items used are bottle container, tube, stopper, and cover for the lid of the tube. These items can be easily and cheaply gotten. You don’t need to spend so much.
Cleaning A Hummingbird Feeder
It is very necessary for hummingbird feeding tubes and apparatus to be cleaned from time to time. This will help sustain the health of the visiting birds. The following are some of the tips you should note when cleaning the hummingbird feeder:
- Use of bottle brush: When using a tube feeder, a bottle or similar container is normally used. You must ensure to clean this bottle regularly and one of the necessary tools for this is a bottle brush. A bottle brush with a sponge head and flexible neck will do this job of cleaning well.
- Pipe cleaners: You already know that a tube feeder involves the use of a tube as such, you need a pipe cleaner. The pipe cleaner is used for scrubbing the tube and also the inside of feeder holes if any. The use of this item helps in scrubbing tight spaces.
- Bucket or Sink: of course, you need a bucket or sink wherein you will rinse your hummingbird feeder properly. This allows you to keep the container used as a feeder into the water and properly wash.
- Warm soapy water: This is undoubtedly one of the best cleaning agents. It is also very cheap and easy to come. The warm soapy water helps to eliminate all micro-organisms that may have to build up in any part of the feeder. Elimination of such micro-organisms is very key.
Care For Hummingbird Feeders
As you have seen from the above, hummingbirds easily get attracted to feeders containing sugar-water solution. This is because of their love for the solution. You must however do the following to care for your feeders if you want these little birds to continue to visit:
- Clean the feeders regularly: Depending on the type of feeder being used, it is best to clean as often as possible with warm soapy water.
- Change the sugar-water solution regularly: You should change the solution from time to time. Ensure not to top up the solution with new food. You should therefore fill the feeders with a solution that just lasts just about a day or two. When you notice that the liquid has turned cloudy, it means the food has fermented and spoiled.
- You should keep pests away: Considering the fact that the feeders are filled with a sugary mixture, pests and other sugar-loving flies get attracted. Where for instance your tube feeder drips at the end, you may have issues with pests. So be careful about these when setting up.
- Don’t put the feeders directly in the sun: Exposing the content of the feeders directly to sunlight makes them spoil more quickly. You should therefore put the feeders in a place where they will not be exposed to direct sunlight.
Conclusion
Hummingbirds are very nice birds to see around our homes, yards, and gardens. One definite way of attracting them is by putting out feeders for them in a conspicuous part of our gardens or yard. The use of a hummingbird feeding tube is one of the options open to you as an enthusiast of these birds.
Hummingbird feeding tubes have some special advantages over other types of hummingbird feeders that we have considered above. Steps on how to make such feeding tubes are also briefly discussed above.