Put your feeders out by the last week in April. Fill them with a sterile solution of sugar water. The mixture should be one part sugar to four parts water. We find it easiest to mix the sugar and water in a pyrex measuring cup and then microwave it until it comes to a boil, so that it is sterile and can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. At first don t put too much solution in the feeders until you re sure that the hummers have found them and you see how fast they are consuming it.
Hummers do eat other food, primarily small insects.
Keep the solution in your feeders fresh, so that it doesn t mould. We have four species of hummingbirds that occur regularly. Rufous migrate through here in the spring to nest in the Pacific Northwest and reappear in the summer and linger for many weeks well into the fall. It is smaller than the other hummers and the male has a streaked, purple gorget. Females of all species are much more difficult to identify.