Blueberry hummingbird nectar is the absolute best!!
This blueberry hummingbird nectar recipe is super simple and takes very little time and effort. Plus, the birds love it!
Blueberry Hummingbird Nectar
Equipment
- 1 Pot
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 small handful frozen blueberries can also use fresh
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil in the pot.
- Add the sugar to the pot and stir until it's dissolved.
- Boil for about another 5 minutes.
- Add the blueberries and gently stir. You don't want to break or mash the blueberries, you just want to steep the flavor and other nutrients into the nectar.
- Remove the blueberries with a spoon. Since they're not broken up, this is pretty easy to do.
- Let the nectar cool COMPLETELY before adding it to your feeders.
- Store extra in the fridge - it'll last maybe a week or so.
Notes
- This recipe is an example. The ratio for it is 1 part sugar to 3 cups of water. So I used 1 cup sugar to 3 cups water here. If your feeder is larger or you want to make a bigger batch, you could do 4 cups sugar to 12 cups water, or 2 sugar to 6 water.. however much you need. Just remember to increase blueberries if you double, triple, etc. the recipe.
- The nectar should be a nice clear blue when finished. If you mash the blueberries, it will come out cloudy and gross.
- When storing in the fridge, if there is ANY mold on the nectar, throw it ALL out. Do not just remove the mold and still feed it to your hummingbirds, it could sicken or kill them.
- Happy Hummingbird Watching!
Your hummingbirds will super thank you for this!
Seriously, our hummingbirds love this stuff!! We didn’t have very many hummingbirds the first year we put up feeders. I was so so bummed! But after starting to add the blueberries and getting the sugar to water ratio right, we’ve definitely had an influx 🙂
We have ruby throated hummingbirds around here, but every variety will dig this nectar. During the cooler months hummingbirds are here, we usually have to change the blueberry hummingbird nectar in the feeders every two to three days. But when it gets hotter, we do it daily. First, they drink more when it’s hotter, duh, lol. And second, the nectar goes bad much much quicker when it’s hotter out.
We try our best to keep our feeders in the shade, but for parts of the day, one of them is in the sun. Not for too long, but we still have to keep an eye on it and the nectar in it. It’s the first one that will get yucky, haha.
Hummingbirds are awesome little guys, and we love having them around! This year, we may expand the number of feeders we have… we want to see lots more of them! I especially enjoy watching the juvenile hummingbirds. Not only because they’re adorable, but also because they’re hilarious! They play fight, go at each other, and then basically call “time outs” to drink together from the same feeder, lol.
It would also be really neat to find one of their nests. I’ve seen photos and videos, but not been lucky enough to find one myself… yet. Maybe this year will be my year to find a hummingbird nest! I will continue looking around for them and be optimistic about it. I just think it would be so awesome!
Happy birding!!
