The Golden Ratio of the Hummingbird Food Recipe

Summer in the south brings a lot of good things with it. After an icy winter and dreary spring, summertime is a much welcomed season. There are a few things that remind you of summertime. Vibrant cloudy sunsets, colorful wildflowers along the roadside and nature that seems to flood back in.

This season, add a hummingbird feeder to your porch or patio. With about 360 species, these tiny birds are fun to watch and have around. Their iridescent feathers and buzzing hum remind you it’s summertime. They are truly a sound of the summer.

Known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings, their wing speed varies from around 12 beats / second to around 80 / second.

Their high-energy lifestyle creates a feeding frenzy. Feeding on flowers puts hummingbirds at the mercy of the flowering seasons of the plants upon which they depend. Once they have located your garden or feeders, expect to see them time and time again.

There are several different designs and options for feeders. You can also buy a few to hold! Search online or your local home improvement store.

Hummingbird Food Recipe:

4 cups water

1 cup white cane sugar

*It’s important to use white sugar and not over saturate the water with sugar. This is the golden ratio.

If you’re in middle Tennessee, set your feeders out in May to start attracting hummingbirds. You will see several more in June. The color red attracts the birds so it’s best to tie something onto the feeder that will catch their eye. 

Over the summer, these tiny creatures become comfortable around you. Don’t be surprised if they start to zoom past you.