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Trying To Attract Hummingbirds And Not Ants? A Few Solutions That Can Help

14 November 2019 by Dora Lowe

Hummingbirds are extraordinary little creatures. They live on nectar and flap their wings hundreds of times per minute. Some types of hummingbirds are also amazingly colorful and beautiful, but they are shy little creatures, too.

If you are trying to attract hummingbirds to your camping grounds for bird watching enthusiasts, you can leave feeders with sticky sweet sugar water out for them. The only problem is that the feeders frequently attract ants. If you want the hummingbirds but not the ants, here are a few options that can help. 

Ant-Proof Hummingbird Feeders 

These feeders are designed to hang swinging in the breeze with plenty of "nectar" for your little feathered friends. They are ant-proof because there is no way the ants can get to the feeders and no way for an ant to crawl into the feeder holes where these little birds insert their beaks to drink the sugar-water. It is also a good idea to hang them away from trees so that the ants cannot use the trees to climb, crawl, and drop on top of the feeders from overhanging branches. You can buy ant-proof hummingbird feeders online.

Feeder Hanger Blocking Disks and Ant Killer

Ants are opportunistic creatures. They will consume the easier meal before they try to get the meal that is harder to reach. That said, you can use these blocking disks to prevent ants from getting to hummingbird feeders. The disks slide up a planter hanging pole and lock into place. The feeder hangs from the planter hook above. You sprinkle ant repellent pellets on the ground around the base of the feeder and then on top of the blocking disk for any ants that decide to forego the free "food" sprinkled on the ground around the base of the pole. 

Flip Feeders

These hummingbird feeders are equally as ingenious as the above options. The portals to the hummingbird food can only be opened for a few seconds when the hummingbird's weight gently alights on a perch. Because hummingbirds are heavier than ants, ants cannot open the feeder unless there are enough ants to equal the weight of one hummingbird. Some other designs of a similar feeder will only open feeding ports when the rapidly beating wings of these little birds cause the feeder to sway. Ants cannot make the feeder sway, so they cannot gain access. As for the feeders swaying and opening in the wind, you can just take the feeders down when it becomes really windy outside. 

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