How to keep Hummingbird feeder warm in winter
Admittedly it isn't going to be easy to keep nectar-filled feeders warm in winter, as the bitterly cold months are sure to beat us when it comes to frost or ice.
How to keep an Hummingbird feeder a little warm in winter time can mostly rely on the feeder being suspended in the winter sun. When the sun goes away on days it refuses to make an appearance, you can wrap the feeder in a hot water bottle, which should bide you some time for a couple of hours.
When hummingbirds are present in your State during late fall or well into winter time, its time to find a solution to keep hummingbirds fed when the snowy, blistering winter cold comes knocking on your door.
Go into keeping your Hummingbird feeder - and sometimes an Oriole feeder - warm in winter, knowing you could fail, as the winter can simply get too cold to sustain any kind of heat in an outdoor environment.
To begin with, just suspend the hummingbird feeder in the winter sun, which is the opposite of what you done when avoiding the summer sun.
And rest assured in an effort to keep hummingbird feeders warm there's little chance it can get too hot with any of these techniques you may attempt to try.
Bear in mind though it doesn't hurt to keep an eye on the hummingbird feeder body temperature, and so to the nectar stored away within it, just in case.
Certainly one effective way of keeping hummingbird feeder nectar warm, is to replenish it with fresh tap water as regularly as you can.
Tap water doesn't come out warm of course but its certainly a great way to break down the cold internally; thus the room temperature nectar can at least bide you some time before it gets a little on the chilly side all over again.
In order for hummingbird feeder to function as it should, do keep a close eye on the nectar port wells; frozen port wells will prevent hummingbirds sipping on the nectar until its defrosted, thus its vital to prioritize this location.
Absolutely avoid situating hummingbird feeders in the shade during winter, while a too high up location can expose feeders even more to the chilly winter air.
Suspend in winter sun
Where most people would think about using a hummingbird feeder come spring into summer time, others will have to find ways to utilize a hummingbird feeder through the cold, bitter winter months - and its far easier to keep a feeder cool in summer.
Unlike the summer time when hummingbird feeder must avoid direct sun, in the winter any summer sun can be a life saver.
Suspend hummingbird feeders on the bird feeding station pole or Shepherd's hook like you normally would, in a well lit up area in the center of the lawn.
If that kind of location doesn't apply to you then you can think about hanging the hummingbird feeder on the side of the house or yard structure that is constantly in direct sunshine from the early morning, and throughout the rest of the day.
Hummingbird feeders really do benefit with just the littlest of warmth provided by the sun during the coldest winter months.
And while it may not seem worth it the sun really can delay or completely stop the hummingbird feeder freezing over in the day. And keeping the hummingbird feeder warm in the day is your only priority, as the feeder can be brought in overnight.
Cover feeder in hot water bottle
My first genuine technique in an attempt to keep hummingbird feeders warm in winter time, is to actually shroud the hummingbird feeder itself in a hot water bottle.
While a hot water bottle is typically used for people to stay warm in bed or around the house on cold nights; an hot water bottle somehow fixed to an hummingbird feeder outside in the yard can at least postpone the icing over process.
Hot water bottles that are filled with hot water from the kettle or stove can stay toasty warm for hours indoors.
And while this heat will cool off sooner in an outdoor winter temperature, it will certainly last long enough to provide your hummingbirds an accessible feeder - where the port wells are prevented from frozen over to early on.
To tie this hot water bottle to the hummingbird feeder as it hangs off the bird feeder pole, do so using rope to wrap the bottle partially around the nectar part of the feeder.
It won't wrap as expected if the hot water bottle is fully loaded with water, thus to partially fill it will provide you some wiggle room in the rubber bottle.
Situate by outdoor warm area
How you'd normally provide a hummingbird feeder to your local hummingbirds, is to suspended the feeder on a bird feeding station pole or Shepherd's hook.
While this pole will allow you to hang the feeder under direct sunshine, when the sun goes down in the afternoon the feeder will be under attract from the frost yet again.
What you can do then is think about unhooking the hummingbird feeder off the pole, to instead situate the feeder in a warm area of your yard. It won't be possible if it remains suspended, thus it will force you to change location.
With hummingbird feeders not having to hang, the outdoor furniture or a table surface available can provide you a place to sit the feeder - so let's sit a flat bottom hummingbird feeder that can balance on an upright position - without fear of it tipping over.
Where the hummingbird feeder goes is entirely up to you, but what about the vent to allow steam out of the house that spills into your yard.
Similarly, what about sitting the hummingbird feeder on top of a table which is intended to provide a barrier between the feeder, and the heat vent sitting under the table.
Outdoor space doesn't provide many hot spots thus its a technique that won't apply to many of you, unfortunately.
Conclusion
It may seem obvious but its hard to forget the winter sun can really starve off the frost, and will provide you the heat to prevent frosting internally - and that especially applies to where the port wells can rapidly freeze over.
Suspended hummingbird feeders in the winter sun should provide you up to 6 or 7 hours of heat, then its a matter of thinking outside the box when direct sun disappears.
Still in the day mind as hummingbirds aren't nocturnal wild birds, so now we can wrap the cold hummingbird feeder in a simple yet cheap hot water bottle.
Fill the hot water bottle as you do part of the way to provide you a way to wrap the bottle specifically around the nectar part of the feeder, with rope in several places to keep it firmly tied in place.
This technique is expected to last only one or two hours which should be enough to keep the hummingbird feeder open until it begins to get dark.
Missed opportunity could be a warm source in your yard that is giving off enough heat, of which it could be a way to unexpectedly keep the hummingbird feeder warm in the day.
It could be a vent out of the ground or out from the side of your house, of which the hummingbird feeder will need to be re-positioned directly next to this area.
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