Building Your Own Humming Bird Feeder
We all know that taking a beautiful photo of humming birds is
hard to obtain, even when they are inside cages. The only thing
that you could do is buy a hummingbird feeder to bring these
birds into photographic distance. But these ready-made
hummingbird feeders are somewhat expensive. Worry no more,
because you can make your very own hummingbird feeder for free.
All you need to do is recycle used or old prescription vials for
making nectar dispensers. Hummingbirds are known to feed on
nectars.
The materials needed to make your own hummingbird feeder are
clear prescription vials with a fitted cap, a few feet of thin
wire or heavy thread and transparent tape or scotch tape. You
may also need a sharp pointed metal object like an ice pick.
To start with this project, heat up the ice pick or whatever
sharp pointed metal you are using and make a pair of holes on
each side of the prescription vial, near the open end where the
cap is placed. You have to make sure that they are close but not
too close that the holes are covered with the bottom of the cap
when it is placed on. The size of the holes should be small
enough to keep the liquid inside the container.
Next, round up the thin wire or thread. Secure it by wrapping
with the scotch tape or transparent tape on each end of the
thread or thin wire to the prescription vial. If you want extra
holding capacity, wrap a second piece of transparent tape around
the prescription vial.
Basically, that's all you have to do in making hummingbird
feeders. It depends on you how many hummingbird feeders you want
to make, but if you want to enjoy watching more than just one
hummingbird, you can make a number of these feeders and tie them
into a mobile and place them in your backyard.
To fill up your hummingbird feeder, remove the cap holding the
prescription vial on and fill it up with nectar and replace the
cap. Closed tightly, turn the prescription vial upside down as
quickly as you can. The feeder's hole should be at the bottom, a
small amount of nectar will leak out the feeder's holes, but as
soon as the vacuum inside the prescription vial is created, the
leakage will stop.
Now we come to making the nectar for the hummingbirds. Basically
there are two choices of nectar. First is the nectar mix that is
commercially available in a granulated form. Or second, you can
make your own nectar from a sugar solution. For the purpose of
information, honey is not recommended. Research proves that too
much honey is harmful to hummingbirds, since it weakens them and
may cause death to these birds.
Just where to hang the feeders? In general, it is good to hang
these feeders in any part of the garden where there is no direct
exposure to sunlight and where the wind will not be able to
shake the feeder. Direct sunlight speeds up fermentation of the
nectar inside the feeder. It is recommended to hang the
hummingbird feeders near the flowers in the garden to further
attract these birds. Now, you can enjoy watching hummingbirds
hovering and perching on your own feeder.