No comments so far, probably because not that many people get the premise of this cartoon. Birder organizations discourage the use of commercial hummer food that contains red dye on the grounds that it is not necessary and may be harmful. Hummingbird food: 4 parts water to 1 part sugar.
Plus it costs almost nothing to make it yourself, as opposed to buying the commercial variety. Another good thing – if your hummingbird feeder is made of red plastic, glass, etc, the hummers will come to it regardless of the color of the food.
Thank you, Rp GG, for what amounts to a PSA. I’ve also read that water sweetened with honey is very bad for them, but I have no idea why that would be so. Granulated sugar’s cheaper, anyway.
I may be wrong, but I think the point of the dye is to draw their attention to it (hey, I look like a big red, yummy, nectar filled flower – come and get it). Of course, most hummingbird feeders are red or have red parts (at least the cheap ones we buy) so we haven’t seen a decrease in our speedy visitors since we ditched the color years and years ago). The aerial attacks because they can’t share are neat to watch (although the cat always seems to miss them). Sadly the hummer season is over where we are and the feeders recently came in and got cleaned and degreased (we gunk the hanging wires/loops to discourage unwanted visitors (ants) from dining — although they congregate on the ground below).
The most common “organic material” used for red color is cochineal or carmine, which is crushed bugs. Might not be so harmful to humans, but not so good for the bugs, eh?
I researched this when I put up my feeders. Some of the Hummingbird organizations are offering cash for any scientific evidence that red dye is a problem. They recommend 4 parts water to one part sugar mixed cold not heated. Honey and fruit juice “go bad” quickly and can cause heath issues for the birds. Heating the sugar causes crystallization and I forget what problems that causes. The dye does make it easier to see how full the feeder is but I put a clean ping pong ball in my feeders so I can see how full they are.
rpG Premium Member about 9 years ago
No comments so far, probably because not that many people get the premise of this cartoon. Birder organizations discourage the use of commercial hummer food that contains red dye on the grounds that it is not necessary and may be harmful. Hummingbird food: 4 parts water to 1 part sugar.
Boofish1 about 9 years ago
Plus it costs almost nothing to make it yourself, as opposed to buying the commercial variety. Another good thing – if your hummingbird feeder is made of red plastic, glass, etc, the hummers will come to it regardless of the color of the food.
Cerabooge about 9 years ago
What does the hummer’s #2 look like?
Thank you, Rp GG, for what amounts to a PSA. I’ve also read that water sweetened with honey is very bad for them, but I have no idea why that would be so. Granulated sugar’s cheaper, anyway.
Sangelia about 9 years ago
I was told by a gal who had such a feeder. The reason for the dye. Was to let her know when it was getting low in the feeder.
that_jedi_girl about 9 years ago
I may be wrong, but I think the point of the dye is to draw their attention to it (hey, I look like a big red, yummy, nectar filled flower – come and get it). Of course, most hummingbird feeders are red or have red parts (at least the cheap ones we buy) so we haven’t seen a decrease in our speedy visitors since we ditched the color years and years ago). The aerial attacks because they can’t share are neat to watch (although the cat always seems to miss them). Sadly the hummer season is over where we are and the feeders recently came in and got cleaned and degreased (we gunk the hanging wires/loops to discourage unwanted visitors (ants) from dining — although they congregate on the ground below).
bugaboo27 about 9 years ago
The most common “organic material” used for red color is cochineal or carmine, which is crushed bugs. Might not be so harmful to humans, but not so good for the bugs, eh?
bjy1293 Premium Member about 9 years ago
Can a little bit of cranberry juice be used to create the red color?
GregShoop Premium Member about 9 years ago
I researched this when I put up my feeders. Some of the Hummingbird organizations are offering cash for any scientific evidence that red dye is a problem. They recommend 4 parts water to one part sugar mixed cold not heated. Honey and fruit juice “go bad” quickly and can cause heath issues for the birds. Heating the sugar causes crystallization and I forget what problems that causes. The dye does make it easier to see how full the feeder is but I put a clean ping pong ball in my feeders so I can see how full they are.