Repurposing Household Items for Hummingbirds

Repurpose and reuse items from around your house to attract hummingbirds to your yard and keep them coming back.

Peanut butter lid. Bonnie Hutson of Independence, Missouri, sent this clever idea. Drill a hole in the center of a peanut butter lid. Attach a J bolt to one side and an eyebolt to the other.? You’ll have an instant ant moat!

Sugar. Make sugar water—four parts water to one part sugar. Hummers always come back for this sweet treat.

Wine bottle. Clean it out, fill it with sugar water and then attach a hummingbird feeding tube (search amazon.com to find some).? Voilà!

Red ribbon. A little red goes a long way in attracting hummingbirds, especially when it's early in the season.

Rice, Sand or Popcorn. Add a little bit of one of these to your hummingbird feeder, along with some water.? Then shake.? You’ll have a cleaner feeder in no time.

 

Cooking spray. Many readers swear by this. Just spraying some on your hummingbird feeder makes it too slippery for ants to cross.

Buttons or beads. Add a few to your sugar water.? You’ll be able to tell at a glance how low your supply is and when you need to refill.

Vinegar. You're guaranteed to have a clean feeder when you wash it with vinegar and water.

Pipe cleaners. These are perfect for cleaning those hard-to-reach spots of a sugar-water feeder.

Coat hangers. Add a few around your feeders to give hummingbirds plenty of places to perch.