What Do Hummingbirds Eat?

Courtesy Alicia Casey

Sugar Water for Hummingbirds

“Should I add anything to the 
sugar water for 
my hummingbirds to make it more nutritious?” asks Roger Emerick 
of South Glastonbury, Connecticut.

Hummingbirds drink nectar from flowers and sugar water for energy. When you’re feeding them pure sugar water at your hummingbird feeder, there’s no need to put in additives such as red dye or honey. Offer hummingbirds the perfect meal by making this sugar water recipe.

Courtesy Jasmin Robinson

Other Foods That Hummingbirds Eat

Hummingbirds also forage at other sources besides flowers and feeders, getting plenty of nutrition from eating small insects like flies and gnats. They even eat small spiders. And hummingbirds are so resourceful that they often forage for insects in the sap wells drilled 
in trees by sapsuckers. Learn more about common hummingbird behavior.