Hummingbirds have extremely long tongues, and can reach deep into flowers (and feeders) beyond the length of their bills. We have both glass bottle feeders (perky pet 4 fountains) and saucers. Some birds use them interchangeably. Others seem to have a preference, at least for a short period. I have seen our 8 oz humzinger saucer completely emptied. But the truth is that around here you are unlikely to see your feeder emptied by a swarm of hummers. The juice needs to be kept fresh, and the feeder cleaned. For most of the year I am pushing the limits of recommended hummingbird hygiene when I clean it only weekly. Which means I throw away a lot of bird juice. oh well.

(If your saucer has a clear lower section, you can see their tongues dip into the juice. When they perch, you can sometimes see them flick their tongues out...)

chuck reinsch
magnolia, seattle, wa
----- Original Message -----
From: Cromaat C
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2011 7:14 AM
Subject: [Tweeters] hummingbird feeder question


I have a new hummingbird feeder. It's a small saucer shaped feeder with perches. Someone said that the hummingbirds can't feed at it after it's half full as their tongues aren't long enough. Is this true?

T. Conyers
Seattle
cromaat93 at gmail dot com



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