Wine: (Bottles) Fun for You - Good for Hummingbirds

Wine Bottle Hummingbird Feeders are a colorful and ecologically sound way to attract the little busy bodies to your yard.  Several of them frequent our feeders every day which makes the kids very excited.  We have also planted special flowers for hummers, bees and butterflies.  Southern Houston, where we currently reside, is an important fill-up station for hummers before they make the long arduous journey south for the winter.

I made these out of wine bottles, t shirt strips, fabric & plastic bag flowers and stoppers I purchased from Annnna on Etsy.  If you want to try your own, be sure to specify WINE bottle size when you order from her.

Notes about feeding Hummers - 

• the syrup recipe is 4 parts water to 1 part white sugar. NO colors please!  Food colorings are neurotoxins for humans and all other creatures.  Bring the solution to a boil and let it cool completely before filling feeders.  You can store excess in a sealed glass jar in your fridge for 2 weeks. 
• sterility -  If you life in a hot climate the syrup needs to be changed every few days to keep it from growing bacteria.  I bleach out my feeders every refill cycle and rinse well. 
• once you start feeding you must keep it up during the appropriate seasons as the birds learn to depend on you for nutrition!  Google when to put up/take down feeders in your area.
• bugs!  One site I read said to hang a porous bag of orange slices near the feeders as the decaying fruit (change them regularly :-) attracts fruit flies which hummers also eat to fatten themselves up.  

Have fun bird watching!