First time Visitor at the feeder..

[Don Kondra]

Greetings,

I just happened to be walking by the window and couldn't help but notice this new patron at the feeder

Heavy crop and "weak" noiseware...



Cheers, Don

[CaraRose]

Is that an oriole?

[OldClicker]

Beautiful shot.

Seeing your other work, do you build your own feeders?

TF

[Don Kondra]

Is that an oriole?

I think so

Quite a color treat after a winter of chickadees and a solitary blue jay..

Cheers, Don

[Don Kondra]

Beautiful shot.

Seeing your other work, do you build your own feeders?

TF

I do but I must admit to being selfish, I hang them close to where I can "shoot" the visitors

Cheers, Don

[A.M.D.A.]

Very nice photo of male baltimore oriole.

Is that seed on the feeder? Orioles love oranges, grape jelly, and mealworms. Also sugar water.

[Don Kondra]

Hmmm.... sugar water ?

The seed feeder is soon to be moved/exchanged for the hummingbird feeder

I've been told it's unusual to see orioles this far north, hope he sticks around..

Cheers, Don

[A.M.D.A.]

I would tend to agree orioles are unusual this far north... the baltimore oriole's range limit is near Saskatoon.

The seed feeder is soon to be moved/exchanged for the hummingbird feeder

Just make sure the feeding port is wide enough for a bill several times thicker than a 'hummers. Also, orioles like somewhere to perch while sipping.

The oranges can be nailed down into trees. Or make a "feeder" by arranging spikes into a 4x4 wood post, then adding the goodies.

[Martin Brazil]

Just a general note on hummingbird feeders. You really want to put honey in there rather than sugar and you will need to clean it out at least twice a week if not more. You have to give it a good scrub with soapy water when cleaning it too or you get green algae build up really fast which is fatal to hummingbirds.

[Don Kondra]

Please, do not put honey, Jell-O, brown sugar, fruit, or red food coloring in your feeder! Honey ferments rapidly when diluted with water and can kill hummingbirds. The effects of red dye have not been not scientifically tested, and it is not necessary to color the water to attract birds to your feeder. Further, there are unverified reports that red dye can cause tumors in hummingbirds; this may or may not be true, but why take the chance?

This is the advice I follow

Cheers, Don

[Martin Brazil]

Fair enough Don, presuming you are not going to clean the feeder regularly then I guess sugar is better than honey but processed sugar is not their natural food whereas honey, at least nectar is.

[A.M.D.A.]

In every site / book I've read it says VERY clearly to NOT put honey in hummingbird feeders... NEVER.

Reason is, honey is easily infected with a fungus causing the bird's tongue to swell up... preventing it from feeding which leads to starvation.

Brown sugar is best, though white sugar is OK as well. Avoid food colourings.

[Martin Brazil]

Food colouring is an obvious no no.
Don's advice says brown sugar is out yet AMDA's books say its the best.
I used honey in mine but I cleaned it out and changed the feed almost every day so there was no time for it to ferment, algae to grow or fungus to infect it. I know that it did not harm the birds because there was only one and he was extremely territorial, guarded the feeder and twice killed other hummingbirds that tried to get in there.
I guess when giving advice you have to presume people will not clean the feeder as regularly as they should and go with the safer option of recommending sugar.
Nowadays I don't use feeders anymore, I planted lots of flowering shrubs and I am certain that the flowers don't harm the birds and they don't have to be cleaned at all. I now have more birds than I ever had with the feeder and also that perfect hummingbird shot is not going to be taken with it sucking from a plastic flower is it ?.