Some prepare nectar for hummingbird feeders

"When will my hummingbirds return?"
"When should I put up my nectar feeder?"
These two questions dominate my mail this time of year. The return of ruby-throated hummingbirds punctuates the arrival of spring with an exclamation point. If a feeder isn't hanging where it was last year, the first returnee hovers at that spot until a feeder is hung. His message is clear: "Where's my feeder?"
My earliest record for a hummer is April 22, so I try to have a feeder up by the 15th, just in case. But this year, we might see a new record for an early bird. According to a Web site that relies on volunteers to report hummingbird sightings (www.hummingbird.net/map.html), ruby-throats are ahead of schedule. The first appeared in Texas and Florida in early March.
By April 5, hummers had been spotted in northern Missouri, central Illinois and Indiana, southwest Ohio and southeast Pennsylvania. If mild weather continues, I expect ruby-throats on my porch by the end of the week. So it's time to unpack and rinse the feeders, and fill them with nectar.
Here's the recipe
The recipe for hummingbird nectar (and orioles, too) is simple: Mix one part table sugar with four parts boiling water, cool and refrigerate. Do not use honey; it can harm or even kill hummers. Red dye is unnecessary because nectar feeders are red, and that's the color that catches hummers' attention. If you're offering nectar for the first time, enhance the feeder's conspicuousness by tying an 18-inch length of red ribbon to the feeder.
Inevitably some readers ask if it's better to buy commercially prepared nectar. Powdered mixes are OK but expensive. Why pay $6.99 for 8 oz. of sugar for a product I just saw advertised when you can buy five pounds of table sugar for much less? Prepared nectars may advertise that they are fortified with vitamins and minerals, but hummingbirds satisfy their nutritional requirements from their natural foods. The nectar we provide is an energy supplement; their natural diet includes myriad soft-bodied invertebrates and nectar from flowers.
Other products that might tempt you are jugs of what appears to be premixed nectar. My advice is, "Buyer beware; read the label."
Let me describe two items I've purchased at big box stores in recent years. The label on Beautiful Gardens Hummingbird Nectar (64 oz., $2.99) reads, "Closely resembles the nectar of flowers when mixed with sugar." The emphasis is mine. The label on Natural Springs Nectar (58 oz., $2.48) reads, "Contains mineral water enriched with vitamins and additional minerals found in the nectar of flowers used by the hummingbird." The instructions read, "Before using, remove cap from bottle and add sugar." Again the emphasis is mine.
Feeding hummingbirds is just like feeding seed-eating birds. It's not necessary. Birds can find plenty of natural foods on their own. But we offer nectar to attract them to places where we can watch them simply because we enjoy them.
Furthermore, when your hummers return, appreciate the effort they've made to get to your backyard. Weighing just a fifth of an ounce, they've traveled from as far south as Panama. And contrary to popular opinion, they fly under their own power. Hummingbirds do not hitch rides on the backs of other birds.
Ohio osprey update
Last week I reported on the northbound migration of a pair of ospreys fitted with satellite transmitters. The male arrived at Alum Creek Reservoir north of Columbus on the morning of April 2. He had traveled nearly 3,700 miles, from the Amazon Basin to central Ohio, in 27 days.
The female dawdled in the tropical heat until late March. She is now en route to Ohio; by the time you read this, she should be near Haiti. She should rejoin her mate and begin nesting in two to three weeks. The map tracking these birds (www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/Resources/osprey/migration.htm) will be updated twice a week until both birds are back at Alum Creek Reservoir in Delaware County.
Send questions and comments to Dr. Scott Shalaway, RD 5, Cameron, W.Va. 26033 or via e-mail to sshalaway@aol.com.