Skip to main content

This easy homemade hummingbird food attracts all the rufous hummingbirds you can handle

Use these tips to draw rufous hummingbirds to your yard

If you’re a fan of birds, you’ve probably heard of rufous hummingbirds. These little birds are incredibly beautiful, with copper feathers that sometimes appear to glow in sunlight. It’s no wonder so many people put out hummingbird food and plant flowers just to attract them. If you’d like to see these stunning birds in your garden, here’s what you need to know.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

45 minutes

What You Need

  • Refined white sugar

  • Water

  • Stirring utensil

  • Boiling pot (optional)

  • Hummingbird feeder

Male rufous hummingbird sitting on pink thorny vines
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Where can you expect to see rufous hummingbirds?

Unfortunately, rufous hummingbirds aren’t found everywhere. If you live on the East Coast, you’ll have better luck attracting ruby-throated hummingbirds. However, rufous hummingbirds are migratory, and they cover a fairly wide range.

During winter, they live in Mexico and along the Gulf Coast. In early spring, they migrate to their breeding grounds in the Northwest, including parts of Washington state, Canada, and even southern Alaska. During their migration, they pass through the central and western parts of the U.S.

They don’t travel in groups, which makes it difficult to predict if you’ll see them or not. The good news is that they are creatures of habit. If you’ve seen them in your garden before, they’re likely to return, especially if you keep putting out food!

Female rufous hummingbird visiting a pink flower
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Flowers rufous hummingbirds love

Like most hummingbirds, rufous hummingbirds eat nectar from flowers as well as insects (so you may want to stop using pesticides during their migration). Tube-shaped flowers are the best for attracting hummingbirds, as their beaks are specially developed to feed from them.

Rufous hummingbirds in particular love brightly colored flowers and seem to favor red ones.

Here are a few of the best flowers to plant if you want to attract rufous hummingbirds:

  • Scarlet sage
  • Paintbrush
  • Gilia
  • Penstemon
  • Currants
  • Larkspur
Female rufous hummingbird drinking from a copper hummingbird feeder
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to make homemade hummingbird food

Don’t worry if you don’t have room to plant flowers, or if it’s too late in the year for you to start planting. Rufous hummingbirds will eat from hummingbird feeders as well as flowers. Making homemade hummingbird food is quick and easy. You can start now and be ready to feed hungry rufous hummingbirds within the hour!

Here are the simple steps to make food for hummingbirds:

Step 1: Mix 1 part refined white sugar with 4 parts water.

Refined white sugar is the same as regular table sugar. Avoid using other kinds of sugars, as some have added ingredients that aren’t safe for birds.

Step 2: Stir the sugar until it fully dissolves.

To help it dissolve faster, you can heat the sugar and water solution in a pot for 1 to 2 minutes and then let it fully cool down.

Step 3: Fill your hummingbird feeder.

Step 4: Store excess sugar water in the refrigerator.

Step 5: Avoid using dye or colors in the hummingbird feeder.

Extra color can make it easier to see when the feeder is low, but artificial dyes aren’t good for birds.

Step 6: Refill the feeder when it is empty.

Step 7: Empty and clean the feeder twice a week, refilling it with new sugar water afterward.

This prevents mold from growing in the feeder.

Rufous hummingbirds are beautiful, and they’ve got a long way to travel during their migration! Growing flowers or setting out a feeder for them to rest at is an excellent way to help them; plus you get to see their lovely feathers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Cayla Leonard
Cayla Leonard is a writer from North Carolina who is passionate about plants.  She enjoys reading and writing fiction and…
What you need for a gorgeous indoor rose plant
Grow an indoor rose garden for a lively and elegant display
Several orange miniature roses in a large pot

Roses are beautiful, elegant flowers, but they’re also typically grown as outdoor blooms. They can take up a lot of space and have a reputation for being somewhat particular about their care. So what should you do if you have limited space to grow plants, or if the weather isn’t compatible with growing roses? Grow them indoors, of course! Here's everything you need to know to care for an indoor rose plant.

Can you grow roses inside?
Yes, you absolutely can! Revitalize your indoor garden with a bounty of roses. Roses will grow just as well indoors as they would outdoors, as long as you take proper care of them. Here are the basics of rose care and how they’re impacted by the change of scenery.
Light
Light is very important for roses. Most rose varieties need roughly six hours of direct sunlight a day. For indoor roses, make sure they have plenty of light or look for a variety that specifically grows in lower light. Grow lights will be crucial if your home doesn't get a lot of natural lighting.
Water
When watering your roses, make sure that the top inch of the soil is dry before you water, but don’t let the soil dry out completely. You also want to keep an eye out for the humidity. If the air isn’t humid enough, your rose may develop a spider mite infestation! You can place your rose in a tray with just a little water in it, which creates more humidity around the plant as the water evaporates. There is, of course, also the option of investing in a humidifier.
Temperature
Roses are not very fond of the cold. They need temperatures ranging from 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit to be comfortable. However, you can start your roses in January or February — the seeds should be just fine with this timing. The soil will keep them warm in late winter, and you should see sprouts by spring.
Pruning
Roses do need to be pruned, and this is especially true of indoor roses. Pruning keeps them healthy and from taking up too much room. Simply clip faded blooms off with sharp garden shears or a blade.

Read more
Do bromeliads die after flowering? Everything you need to know about blooming bromeliads
How to care for your bromeliad after it flowers
Bromeliads in bloom

Bromeliads are rather unique plants. Their leaves can be solid or variegated, and their beautiful blooms can last for months at a time — even indoors. Many people buy bromeliads specifically for the beauty of their flowers, especially since most nurseries only sell bromeliads that are already in bloom. Once the flower has faded, though, you might be left with questions such as "Do bromeliads die after flowering?" and "Do they only flower once?"

Read more
You can grow pumpkins vertically – give these methods a try
Keep your pumpkins safe from diseases and pests by growing them vertically
A small pumpkin sitting on top of a fence post

Pumpkins are a staple of fall gardens. From pumpkin pie to jack-o-lanterns, they're an iconic part of many seasonal celebrations and traditions. However, their slow growth leaves them vulnerable to pests, diseases, and other such problems. So how do you keep your pumpkins safe from pests and disease while they take their sweet time growing? Well, try growing pumpkins vertically on a trellis! If you've never tried vertical gardening before or aren't sure where to start, this is the guide for you.

The basics of vertical gardening
Vertical gardening is the method of growing plants in a vertical or semi-vertical way, usually in a frame of some sort. You can grow plants as part of a green wall, where the frame of the garden is, as the name suggests, mounted to or embedded in a wall. Plants grow out of the frame sideways.

Read more