In answer to a couple of hummingbird questions

Now remember, I'm no expert; I never knew a single thing about hummingbirds until last summer when we moved back here, and then I searched the Internet for answers to my questions. The most thorough website I found was hummingbirds.net, which debunks a lot of myths about the little creatures (some people think they migrate on the backs of geese... wrong). Just google "hummingbirds" and you'll find out anything you want to know.

One person asked how I clean the feeders. I usually soak them in a bleach solution and rinse well, but I have also put them in my dishwasher. Although I've read that they don't like the scent of commercial dish soaps, I've had no problem at all.

Someone else asked what I feed the hummingbirds. You can pay a lot of money for red-colored hummingbird nectar in the stores, but I use the recipe I've found on the Internet, which is one part sugar to four parts water. I do not heat it; I just stir it every once in awhile until the sugar is dissolved; why get another pan dirty, and have to wait for the mix to cool? And the red food coloring that's added to the commercial mixtures is not necessary, since the little plastic "flowers" on the feeders are all the red that is needed to attract the birds.

There are many varieties of hummingbirds, but from what I've read, the only one we see around these parts is the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. Last year I thought surely I had another species, since most of mine had no red on their throats. Now I know that the females and younger males don't have red throats.