Why Hummingbirds Are Avoiding Your Feeders

Wondering why nearby hummingbirds aren’t visiting your feeders? This checklist looks at why they might be avoiding your yard—or choosing a neighbor’s instead. By understanding what they need, you can make changes that encourage them to stop by.

If you’re not sure if they have arrived yet, see our spring hummingbird migration map here.

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What Hummingbirds Need

If you know hummingbirds spend their summers in your neighborhood but they’re ignoring your feeders, you’re not alone. Sometimes the simplest thing is enough to deter them.

But don’t feel defeated. With a few changes you may be able to turn things around.

It helps to think like a bird.

Most behavioral decisions pertain to these basic things: safety, food, mating, and shelter.

To stay in one area during nesting season, hummingbirds must feel (relatively) safe from predators, have a variety of available food sources (carbs and protein), and places to nest and perch.

They’re here to breed and raise their young—not for leisure. With little in reserve, they must constantly eat to survive.

Feeders offer a nice supplement, but their main nutrition comes from nectar-rich flowers and protein-packed bugs. This includes nectar from flowering plants and various invertebrates like insects, spiders, and larvae they have co-evolved with. And, for efficiency, this all needs to be near their nesting sites in trees and shrubs.

If other birds already enjoy your garden, it’s a good sign hummingbirds will too—their needs for food, safety, and shelter are much the same.

This checklist (below) is compiled from a variety of sources including birding forums, studies, books, experts, and my own experience. Compare each item to your own situation to see what you can tweak.

Some things are quick and easy to fix—like the style or location of a feeder—while others, like providing good habitat, could take years to remedy.

Also, be patient. When I first started feeding hummingbirds, I’d been feeding other birds for years yet it still took months for one brave hummingbird to finally enjoy the sugar water. After that, word travelled fast.

Reasons Hummingbirds Stay Away

Nectar & Feeder Problems

Poor feeder design.
A good feeder is attractive to hummingbirds, easy to take apart and clean, includes perches (so they can rest while they drink), has a sugar water reservoir that bees cannot access, and hangs securely in place.

This is the feeder I recommend along with an ant moat. While no feeder is perfect, this one checks most of the boxes. I like to have several so I can always have a few in the garden while others are indoors for cleaning and refilling.

Wrong recipe.
Stick with a simple mix: one part white granulated white sugar to four parts clean water using this recipe. This is closest to the sugar to water ratio found in their favorite nectar plants.

Don’t use honey, brown sugar, molasses, artificial sweeteners, juice blends, or red dye—these can harm birds or simply taste “off.”

The nectar is spoiled.
Sugar water goes bad fast, especially in heat. You’ll notice the mixture gets murky or the feeder gets moldy and the hummingbirds start avoiding it.

The warmer the weather, the more often you need to clean the feeder and refill with fresh sugar water. This could be every three days in modest summer heat but several times a day in heat waves—or just take it down until the weather cools off a bit.

The feeder is dirty.
Along with ensuring the sugar water is always fresh, thoroughly clean your feeders each time you replenish them. Little brushes like this (made for cleaning straws) are good for getting in all the little crevices. Sometimes other animals will access the feeder, leaving behind scents or residue that birds may avoid. If this happens, thoroughly clean everything and start fresh.

The nectar is contaminated.
Ants, wasps, bees, and residue from cleaning products can all taint the nectar. Once hummingbirds don’t like the feeder, they may boycott it indefinitely.

Always use an ant moat and follow these tips to deter wasps and bees.

Rinse and dry feeders thoroughly after cleaning before refilling.

It may also help to remove the “bad” feeder for a week or two before offering the clean one.

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Placement and Safety Issues

Wrong feeder location.
Hummingbirds find feeders by sight so they must be able to see them as they fly by.

A good location is typically about 5 feet off the ground, near but not within shelter (trees and shrubs), and in partial shade.

It’s always a challenge to find a way to hang your feeders so that other animals (squirrels, chipmunks, racoons, other birds…) find it difficult to access them. And if bears are present, there shouldn’t be feeders at all (of course).

Only one feeder is out.
Hummingbirds, especially males, can be incredibly territorial—not because they are mean animals but it’s basic survival. They have to eat continually during their active hours to survive so it makes sense that they are highly possessive about food sources. You can learn more with our hummingbird quiz here.

If you have room, offer several feeders spaced out throughout your garden. And keep them away from other bird feeders and nesting boxes.

Too much human activity.
Frequent noise, foot traffic, or doing garden chores near the feeder may cause them to keep their distance.

Something as simple as a porch door that bangs shut or a creaky whirligig could be enough to scare birds.

You may eventually discover that hummingbirds do like your yard but just not when you’re active in it!

An automated feeder camera can help confirm this while getting great photos.

Use of pesticides or herbicides.
Any time we spray, we’re potentially disrupting the food chain, either directly or indirectly because so many plants and animals are co-dependent. And we can’t have birds or butterflies without larvae and caterpillars.

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Timing and Natural Conditions

The feeder is new.
Birds may need time to find and trust a new feeder. Sometimes it takes a few days—or weeks—for them to start visiting. If you’re confident it’s a good feeder in a safe, visible spot, it’s worth leaving it there consistently so they can become familiar with it over time. Even if they’re not feeding yet, keep cleaning and replenishing the sugar water.

The neighbors are winning.
If your neighbor’s yard is a lot like yours, the birds may be frequenting it entirely out of habit. Follow all the tips here (as best you can) and give it time. It just takes one curious bird to discover a new favorite hangout.

Your area lacks habitat.
If your neighborhood is short on trees, flowers, or natural shelter, there may simply be fewer hummingbirds around to attract since they are territorial and need to spread out.

A lot of emphasis is put on the specific nectar plants to grow like the ones listed here but without suitable places to nest, rest, hide, and find bugs, they won’t have what they need.

Bad weather.
Storms, cold snaps, heat waves, and drought can really disrupt life in the garden. It can take days or weeks for “normal” bird activity to resume after extreme weather.

Wrong time of day.
Maybe the hummingbirds are in your garden but they’re active when you’re not. Try bird watching at different times of day, including dawn and dusk. I like to settle into a patio chair with my phone camera ready and bird watch.

They’re nesting.
During breeding season, birds often stay near nests and natural food sources. Feeder visits seem to pick up again after chicks fledge.

Nature is providing plenty.
When flowers, insects, and berries are abundant—especially in summer and fall—hummingbirds might not need feeders as much. This may also be peak summer when the sugar water spoils quickly in the heat. Like most animals, they’ll do what’s easiest to avoid wasting energy.

They’ve migrated.
If you’re heading into fall, the hummingbirds may have moved on. This is part of the Fall Hummingbird Migration, when birds head to warmer climates for the winter. You can still keep your feeders up until frosts are in the forecast though. It will not delay their journeys and the sugar water will give them extra fuel for the big journey ahead.

I hope you’ve found enough tips to make your garden a hummingbird hub!

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Summary

To attract hummingbirds to your garden:

• Confirm the spring migrations have arrived in your area.
• Choose the right style of feeder and provide several if you have room.
• Use an ant moat and keep the feeders clean with fresh sugar water.
• Take down feeders when you can’t maintain them properly.
• Grow a diverse selection of native and well-adapted flowering nectar plants, trees, shrubs, and vines—not just for hummingbirds but all local wildlife. This will provide food and shelter.
• Avoid herbicides and pesticides.
• Keep pets away from feeding areas. Outdoor pet cats kill millions of birds each year.
• Be patient: if you’ve got the right setup, give them time to adopt your garden.

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Resources

More About Hummingbirds

• A Sweet Encounter: Hummingbird’s Fascination With a Cat
• How To Grow a Hummingbird-Friendly Garden
• Hummingbird Spring Migration Map

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛