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To: Daffynition

By all means, please let me in on the secret to hand feeding. Does this involve insects or just sugar water? I’ll surely be the envy of my neighbors— like I’m not now ;)

So long as it doesn’t involve donning headgear like a saw on, I think, Animal Planet one time. I just can’t do that.


16 posted on 03/12/2008 2:09:12 PM PDT by Dysart
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To: Dysart
No special headgear ... honest... just patience.

Seriously ... here's the place to begin. I found this on the GardenWeb hummingbird forum.

When I started out, I used the red cap from a cola bottle and soon discovered it was to small and didn't balance well in my hand. Eventually I found a wider based cap and it worked much better.

Good luck! Let me know how you did!

"Over the course of several days, I would simply stand beside the feeder so that they would get used to my presence. Then, I began putting my hands around the feeder so that in order to drink they had to land on my fingers. I was amazed at how quickly they were willing to do this.

The next step was to remove the feeder and place a small red cap on an old milk can in the same area. They eventually found the small replacement and began feeding. The morning the photos were taken, I simply went outside and filled the cap with the sugar water, placed it in the palm of my hand, and sat very very still. Within ten minutes, they were resting in my hands, drinking. It was sheer delight for me! I was even able to move my hands around a bit with the birds on my fingers. They are light as a feather...and simply beautiful. I can't wait until next year."

17 posted on 03/12/2008 5:22:50 PM PDT by Daffynition (The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.)
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