Hand Made Feeder for Hand Feeding Hummingbirds

fingers spread wide over the perches of a Humzinger feeder

Ever since moving to West Marin sixteen years ago, I have been drawn to the local hummingbirds. We have Anna's year round and migrating Allen's and occasional Rufous in the Spring and Fall. We had so much traffic our first year that I stood next to my feeder and waited for them to come around. They would fly close to me and I could feel the wind of their wings on my face and hear their buzzing wings in my ears. I would look them in the eye and feel a sense of connection. A sort of questioning look and eventual trust as I got them to land on me. It took a lot of time and patience but they eventually warmed up to me. I've spent hours over the years standing by my feeders watching and waiting for them, sometimes being rewarded with 3 to 4 hummingbirds sitting on my fingers at once! This hobby can become quite addicting especially during migration and high traffic time of year. Evening hummer happy hour is my favorite time of day. 

I bought more feeders over time. It seemed like the more feeders there were, the less fighting amongst the birds. Next, I decided to attract more hummers to my house by placing even more feeders around my deck to entice those flying by who might not see the feeders tucked under my roof. I found that the McCormick brand spice jars were perfect for the job. I had recently cleaned out my pantry and pulled some spices that were very old and stale off the shelf. I emptied them and soaked the jars in boiling water to loosen the labels and sterilize them. Next, I drilled holes in the red tops. McCormick has designed a top that comes with a snap lid with an inner lid with pre-made holes. How handy! Remember, if you drill your own holes, smooth out the edges with a file.

McCormick spice jars

After I had made 4 of these little jar feeders, I placed them on my deck and on the arm rests of a couple of deck chairs. It wasn't long before they were discovered by the hummingbirds. Ants also discovered them so I placed them in shallow bowls of water to discourage the ants. Hummingbirds like to sit on the lip of the bowl and rest while they eat.

Spice Jar feeder inside bowl of water to detract ants

Now the fun begins! Once the hummingbirds were used to eating from the feeders on the arms of the deck chairs, it was an easy bit of persuasion to get them to feed from the jars while holding them in my hand. I no longer had to stand at the feeder with my arms raised high. This was so much more relaxing. 

If you are fortunate to live where hummingbird traffic is heavy and they swarm around feeders, the jar is your ticket to a magical close encounter. In the video below, it took about 5 minutes before I had a few visitors to my feeder. That's not a very long time to wait and the rush of standing in the middle of a hummingbird swarm is pure happiness! Scroll 2/3 way through for the close up! Turn up the volume!

My Youtube Hummingbird Playlist
More info on handfeeding hummingbirds

If you would like to make your own hummingbird food, here is the recipe:

1 part sugar

4 parts water

Boil the sugar water until the sugar is completely dissolved. This will also kill any mold or bacteria that might be present. Do not boil longer as that will make syrup and change the water/sugar ratio. Never add red food coloring. That can make birds sick. Wait for the water to cool before filling feeders.

I hope some of you get a chance to try this inexpensive method to get close to these little jewels. 

Harrison's Birdie Bread

It's been a long time since I've made a post. Here's what I've been up to today.
This is my recipe for Harrison's Birdie Bread made with Harrison's pellets. It's cheaper than the Harrison's bird bread mix. The corn is fresh and my birds prefer it.

This recipe can be doubled.

1 1/2C finely ground Harrison's Adult Lifetime pellets (grind to consistency of flour -grind before measuring)
2tsp baking powder
1/2 C gray millet (I used organic hulled millet)
1/3 ear organic corn - cut off cob.
1T Organic Virgin Palm Oil (or Harrison's Sunshine Factor)
2 eggs - no shell (I use duck eggs when my ducks are laying)
1C water

Optional additions for variation:
1/8C chopped organic veggies
1/8C hulled organic hemp seed.
1T crushed organic red pepper
3T organic flax seed

Makes 2 dozen mini muffins.

Directions:
Oil 2 mini muffin tins and preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix dry ingredients plus corn or extras.
Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl starting with eggs, then add oil, then add water.
Combine wet and dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed.

Using a small spoon, fill each muffin cup to the top using the last of the batter to even out the cups that are not as full.

Bake 20-25 minutes.
Cool 5 min and then flip muffins on their sides to finish cooling.
Place cooled muffins on a cookie sheet and freeze over night. Place frozen muffins in zip-lock bags and keep in freezer for individual use.

Serving.
I like to chop up the muffins and then once it is in a food dish, sprinkle on a few hemp seeds. With parrotlets, muffins tend to get dropped to the bottom of the cage so that is why I chop them up.

Enjoy!

Another Bean Snuggle

This time with his new love. Penelope the pea from Toy Story 3. He will feed her and preen her and rub his head on her. So sweet. Except when he is defending her territory!



He has been my constant companion while I have been sick with a very bad cold. Better than watching TV while sick.

Need a Bean Fix?

Here he is snuggling with Buttercup from Toy Story Three and getting a little finger scritch from me. He was super snugly yesterday while I was home sick with a nasty cold.

I've been sick for a week and the only thing that has made my days entertaining is my little green birdie. I'm not much of a TV person so having Bean hanging out with me while I lay under the covers was a real comfort.

Make Your Own Hummingbird Feeder

All you need to make a hummingbird feeder is probably already in your kitchen. Clean an empty spice jar with red lid. Make a hole in the middle of the lid using a drill or knife. Hole should be big enough for a hummer beak. 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch in diameter. (I just did it by eye) Make sure there are no rough plastic edges by trimming the opening with fingernail clippers or file. Take a rubber band that you saved from your store-bought vegetables or newspaper and a twisty tie also saved from your store-bought veggies. Attach to the spice jar as shown. Fill with nectar made with 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. Make sure sugar is dissolved completely before filling jars to the brim. Replace caps. Hang your feeders by a window so you can watch the birds visit. You might like to buy suction cup hooks that can attach to a window for even closer viewing. Be sure to clean the jars and replenish the nectar weekly. If you experience heavy traffic, then replenish nectar as needed.
See a larger photo here.

Here is the hand made feeder in my hand. If you place the feeder on an deck chair. Once they get used to feeding there, all you have to do is get comfy and hold the feeder and sit still. You may get a nice surprise like this...

Romp Game Completed

A year after the first Mother's Day gift of Romp game pieces, my son Brenden designed the playing field. It is a poster sized lithograph that he created during his last semester at SF State University. The game is called "Romp! A Springtime Adventure in the Land of Der Zoo" There are 4 game pieces. Bean the Parrotlet, DeDe the mini holland lop, Rooster the cockatiel and Zoop the call duck. Brenden still wants to add color to the playing field. But we can still play the game as it is.


Rules:
1. Players place their pet at its start location

2. Roll die to see who goes first. The die has 0,1,1,1,2,3 printed on each side.

3. Take turns rolling die and moving your pet the number of steps on the die. If you roll a 0, you do not advance. Collect the stepping stones as you go.

4. Players may only hold 10 stones at a time. If you land on a step with a stone, an exchange must be made. Strategy - you can swap out a stone that has a better point value for your pet.

5. The first player to make it back to their start location with ten stones gets 5 additional points. The rest of the players get 3 additional turns and then the "Romp" is over. Everyone adds up their points by using the chart in the upper right corner of the board.

6 The pet the wins the round gets immediately cuddled.

For more pictures see the set on flickr.
What is underneath the stones?
worms, chicken, millet, carrot, calcium, cilantro, and nesting material
Here are the point breakdowns for each pet.


Worms:
0 Bean
0 DeDe
1 Rooster
3 Zoop

Chicken:
3 Bean
1 DeDe
2 Rooster
0 Zoop

Millet:
2 Bean
1 DeDe
3 Rooster
1 Zoop

Carrot:
1 Bean
3 DeDe
0 Rooster
2 Zoop

Calcium:
4 Bean
6 DeDe
4 Rooster
4 Zoop

Cilantro:
3 Bean
5 DeDe
1 Rooster
0 Zoop

Nesting Material:
0 Bean
3 DeDe
5 Rooster
5 Zoop

What does Bean Eat?

For Bean's friend Miss Marie...
Bean eats a variety of foods. He always has a seed dish that is filled with either Volkman seed for parotlets, or a mixture of cockatiel seed that I add more safflower and hemp seed to. I also offer a mixture of seeds for smaller birds. I store all birdseed in the refrigerator to keep it from spoiling. In addition to seed, I give him a little square of home made birdie bread which I bake ahead of time and freeze small portions. My recipe for birdie bread is here. The ingredients vary depending on what vegetables are in season and what I might have on hand in the kitchen. I try to make sure that I have Harrison's pellets and hulled hempseed from the health food store. I try to make sure all ingredients are organic. Harrison's company makes a birdie bread mix that you can add your own ingredients to but I prefer to make everything from scratch. It seems like a lot of work but I bake it in a 9 x 12" baking dish. Once the bread is cooled, I cut it into little squares, spread them out on a cookie sheet, freeze them, then individually wrapped them and store in the freezer. These little squares can last over a month. Bean also gets a variety of foods and treat cups near his favorite perches. This might include fruits and vegetables, hard-boiled egg, brown rice, fresh cooked corn, acceptable table foods providing they are low in salt and sugar. He also gets an occasional bit of meat. We don't eat soup that often but when I make it, he gets his own cup. (low salt) He loves chicken but we don't give it to him everyday. I grow my own cilantro, lettuce, collard greens, spinach, strawberries and raspberries which he also enjoys. He just recently decided that he likes millet sprays and I usually place a piece of one on his playstands. He really loves kiwi and strawberries and the seeds of bell pepper. Another favorite treat is a slice of dried organic fig. Another fun thing to do is to take bunches of cilantro or parsley, tie them with a little string, get them all wet, and tie that to the side of his cage near perch. He will take a bath in it and then later might decide to eat or shred it. There was a time when I had too much parsley growing, so I took bunches, tied them together, hung them upside down to dry and then offered those as toys to shred. As long as nothing gets moldy it's okay for him to bathe in his greens and play with them later. I would say that most of his diet comes in the form of birdie bread and seeds, so I make sure that the birdie bread is chock full of nutrition. I am sure there are other things that he likes to eat and I'm just forgetting to write down. Most things that are safe for humans are okay for birds as long as they are not forgotten in the dish and allowed to spoil or get moldy. Be sure to check on lists of poisonous foods for birds as well as plants that can be unsafe or toxic. Some people like to bring in branches from their yard to make as perches. Just be sure that the branches are safe, clean and dried. Here is a link to poisonous foods and plants.

Bean Likes Scritches!

Bean has to be tricked with warm sunlight and a camera but he will let me scritch his head now. So satisfying!

Romp!

Here are the player pieces to a game called Romp that my son made for me for Mother's Day. He is still finishing the game board and I'll get to play it soon. For now, here are what the pieces look like. They are designed after some of our pets, Loopy the duck, Rooster the female cockatiel, Bean the parrotlet, and DeDe the mini-lop.

@beanie_boy 's Birdie Bread Recipe!

beanie_boy’s Birdie Bread
Made from scratch!
more pictures!
If you want to avoid the work below then buy a healthy mix. Try Mama's or Harrison's mixes. They look like they have good ingredients.

Dry Ingredients: (use organic when possible) Almost 6 Cups!
Mix together with a fork in a large bowl.
2C Flour (unbleached organic)
1C Cornmeal Bob’s Red Mill (stay away from Jiffy)
½ C Bob’s Red Mill wheat-less 8 grain cereal
½ C Quinoa
½ C Harrison’s High Potency pellets
¼ C Millet (save some for top)
¼ C Whole Barley (save some for top)
¼ C Almond Meal
¼ C Pumpkin Seeds
¼ C Hemp Seeds
1/8 C Flax Seeds
1 tsp. Cinnamon
3 tsp. Baking Powder
Set aside.

Wet Ingredients: Almost 61/2 Cups!
2 eggs (We use duck eggs when ours are laying)
1 C cooked sweet potato
1 small apple cubed
1 carrot cut coarse
½ C chopped dark greens (collards, spinach, kale are all good)
½ Cooked beans (favas are toxic raw)
A few chives
---
½ cubed strawberries.
1 ½ C cooked beans, dried corn, lentils, split peas whole barley, brown rice
(-no particular ratio- this is a mixture that you make up and cook before making bread- save leftovers in the freezer for another batch)
½ C Peanut Butter (peanuts only as in Laura Scudders or Adams organic, NO Skippy!)

Assemble Ingredients:
In food processor with metal blade, start with egg shells (save egg contents)
Add sweet potato and pulse until shells get crushed. Set aside.
Add rest of the wet ingredients up to the chives and pulse until coarsely chopped. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, add wet eggs and mix until beaten, then add wet ingredients until mixed. Next, gradually add dry ingredients until it all sticks together. If it is way too dry, add a little organic apple sauce until it sticks. It will be very thick!

In a lightly oiled 9x12 pan add the mixture and pat down with clean fingers or the back of a spoon. When even, sprinkle the reserved millet and barley for an attractive topping. Bake in 400* degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes, then at 350* an additional 10-15 minutes on the top shelf.

Let cool completely.
Cut into squares large enough for a daily feeding to your bird. For parrotlets, the squares will be much smaller than for a macaw or amazon.
Lay the squares out on a baking sheet with spaces in between each square and freeze.
Once frozen, separate into freezer bags for future use. When ready to use, take one cube out and microwave for 12-20 seconds and place in treat cup for your bird.

It’s a lot of work but with so many treats frozen, you won’t have to make it again for at least a month.

caveats to beanie_boy’s birdie bread

The original recipe came from an online source.
I started substituting ingredients when I read the contents of a box of jiffy. Yuck! I make corn bread from scratch and didn’t know what was in that box. I refuse to feed that to my bird. I believe in doing the extra work it takes to make baked foods from scratch. You are in total control of what is in your food and pass the favor on to your pets if you create wholesome and healthy snacks for them.

You may substitute most of the ingredients except the flour, corn meal, baking powder and peanut butter. For all the varied grains and flours, you might get away with substituting the Bob’s Red Mill 8 grain cereal. It’s full of goodies and might save you some work scouting for variety.

For each batch, I pick from my garden or buy organic fruit and veggies that are in season and come from local sources. Did you know that all certified organic stickers on fruit start with the number 9 in the USA? Good to know! You can substitute any fruits and veggies for what is listed, just trade one for another and use apple sauce if you get too dry. It’s fun to experiment and your bird will enjoy the variety.

Please share this with your friends and their feather friends.

A Week Off

Last week I was home on vacation and I spent many hours in the garden. We now have our tomatoes in the ground and some peppers, spinach, garlic, sugar snaps, lettuce, jalapeños, asparagus, collard greens, beets, and fava beans. We plant the favas in winter to add nitrogen back into the soil. I found out a trick that I will implement next year. Just cut the tops off of the plants, leaving the roots in tact. Chop up the greens and flowers and mix them into the soil. Then as you plant your vegetable starts, their roots will follow the same path as the fava roots and the nitrogen release will be slower. We kept some favas alive for eating too. They take a little bit of work but are so good for you.

Naturally, while out in the garden, it is a good time to bring DeDe out to play. I had made her a cardboard clubhouse for indoors but she would have nothing to do with it in the house. After sticking it outside in one of her favorite spots, she started going into it. There is a bed of hay and openings on two sides. She also likes to use the ducks' nest box as a observation station. One day, my son, Brenden took a piece of wood and carved a little sign for the side of the nest box. It reads, 'Quiet, BUN AT WORK' It's quite cute and I could not resist taking my video camera with me to film her 'at work'. The ducks were curious too and the above video is the result of 10 minutes of filming. While getting the shot of her nose twitching, she charged me and bit my arm! Me thinks she is getting rather familiar with her territory and would like to defend it. Now I know that she disapproves of me and has always been plotting an attack. She did not break skin but there were little red marks for at least 48 hours. I made sure to point this out to the guys. I've always thought she was planning something. They think I am silly. What do you think?

Miserable Ducks

Since we lost Tippy to a red tailed hawk, we have been keeping our ducks in their run unless we venture out to the garden. Then they get to go out and forage. The hawk comes back every now an then to see if we still offer free meals. Poor ducks can hear us when we go out on our deck or open the front door and the hens shout at us "Quack Quack Quack" It's sad and we wish we had a larger pen for them to roam. Another set back is that they mess up their house and run which need to be cleaned more often. Since they don't get to forage as much, I have been getting scraps from Shorty over at Tomales Bay Foods for them. They love the outer leaves of cauliflower and cabbage. I also dig worms from the compost for them. One positive result of having them penned is that we don't have to look for their eggs. They are laying in the nest box and or dropping their load in the run. We are having French toast tomorrow! Duck eggs make great batter. Below is a photo of Loopy after her mud bath. She was preening for such a long time. The perfect white duck.

My home is Der Zoo

When we settled in our house 10 years ago we started to acquire pets. We had a cat named Kika and a leopard gecko named Lizzy and a cockatiel named Rooster. We soon added ducks to our flock a mini holland lop and a parrotlet. We have regular visitors of deer and skunks and the occasional fox and bobcat. There are many wild birds who visit as well. Hummers are a favorite and chickadees are friendly. I will tell more about them in the days ahead as time allows. We started to call our little property "der zoo" because we thought of it as a little zoo. After Kika died, we had nothing but non-cat or dog pets and it seemed even more exotic. That is why I called this blog 'derzoo' At least it will help me to remember where to find it on the net.

I have never kept a journal and I am a little wary of the typing..I have a pretty bad case of tendinitis so my posts will be brief. Hopefully my pictures will provide more entertainment than my prose.

I have been under the weather so I'll stop for now and go to bed. Good night and dream sweet dreams.