Humming bird feeders and mold...

[highland145]

My latest "trick" was to chlorox/water the feeder. Rinse it well. Boil the water/sugar. And hope it would last.

Negatory. Filled it Sunday and there's mold today. WTH?

Suggestions?

 

[JimKiler]

i just threw out a regular bird feeder due to mold and no bird eating the wet bird seed that my wife let sit in it for over a year.

But my story does not help you. Do you like in the equator?

 

[highland145]

i just threw out a regular bird feeder due to mold and no bird eating the wet bird seed that my wife let sit in it for over a year.

But my story does not help you. Do you like in the equator?

I really like in the equator. Especially the diminutive equator ladies...giggity...

but I think you might need one of these.
https://youtu.be/dEW9TG6Dcgg?t=52
or one of these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3Ya6z-NlDo

 

[Newbian]

First off get a feeder you can clean easy to make your life easy and use less things like bleach on it.

Something like this is what I love compared to the drop feeders where you can't clean the container or the bottom short of soaking them with bleach and water.

Really the only place I get any mold with these is in the small holes the birds drink from and you can clean them with the brush it comes with or just use paper towels or such as the rest you can wipe off easy.

Otherwise I replace the food twice a week, it's out there for 3 days and then 4 days between cleaning, and boil the water before to help otherwise that's about it.

It depends where you live for if it's very humid and hot then you might need to change it more and try to get a shady area to place the feeders.

 

[lxskllr]

Quicker changes. I wouldn't be comfortable leaving the food out for more than three days. It can ferment, and that's not good for them. It'll still get a bit of mold, but it's manageable. I wipe what I can get with a dish rag, and hit the crevices with a toothbrush.

 

[highland145]

Newbian, I like that feeder. Too bad Lowes didn't have one like that. Now I have 2 of the other style.

The choosy bastards should be glad I'm feeding them at all...:colbert;

I've seen 5 at one time but I don't know how many there really are. Man do they love to fight.

 

[Blain]

The Hummzigner feeders are really nice. It's easy to clean and refill. I have a Hummbrella over mine.
The birds like to sit under it When It Rains.

 

[MongGrel]

I need to get a couple feeders and put them in the front yard, we xeroscaped it a few years ago and it is mostly flowering plants.

I still see them through the picture window in the front now and then even without any occasionally.

They tend to migrate in and out of here seasonally, which is a bit odd considering you would not think they could fly too long of a distance over time.

Amazing little critters.

 

[highland145]

Actually...according to wiki...the fly a crap ton of miles. The gulf way.

I might get a 3rd feeder. Fight Club, right? I need a game camera...

 

[tenthumbs]

I have three basic feeders and I have to refill them every day. I can get up to 15 little hummers at a time and I go through 8 to 10lbs of sugar a week. All I do is rinse everything thoroughly with hot water and I don't have any mold issues. You really shouldn't leave the feeders out for more than three days without a good rinsing and new nectar.

 

[highland145]

Been meaning to report in. Changed the water out at the 1st sign of a problem but after Hermine and the other storm off the coast blew days of rain through, I haven't seen a one. Maybe it's migration time so I'm going to take them down and clean them. Next year, I'll be more vigilant. My in-laws have offered me a 3rd feeder and I might take them up on it. Cool to watch.

8lbs of sugar/week. Dang that's a lot of calories.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I'm in western mass, we have ruby throated thrushes, they take off for migration end if august, as soon as you start getting the chillier nights.

 

[IronWing]

Generally we bleach/water wash the feeders with every refill. We've only developed a mold/fermentation problem once. We solved it by bleaching the plastic parts heavily and boiling the bottles in bleach water. The mold hasn't reappeared.

We have three Best 1 feeders. The bats love them.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I read not to use bleach. I use vinegar to clean every refill. Then rinse it very well to get rid of sourness

 

[IronWing]

I read not to use bleach.

Oh, I thought we just had arctic hummingbirds.

 

[highland145]

We've got some vinegar...I think costco must have been having a sale. Pretty sure we're good for several years on that front.


IW, is that a pic of yours or stock? The ones that we've seen have some spotted patterns but not much in the way of colors.

Similar...

 

[IronWing]

Last night's bandits:

 

[highland145]

That is cool. He's got an outie and your moths are possessed.