Looking for the best hummingbird feeder to keep your feathered friends happy during winter? we’ll introduce you to the best hummingbird feeders designed specifically for the colder months.
When selecting a feeder for winter, it’s crucial to choose one that can keep the nectar from freezing for extended periods. While glass feeders are often preferred for this purpose, certain plastic feeders can also be effective, especially when equipped with a dome to shield against snow. These feeders are invaluable during chilly weather when hummingbirds typically seek refuge under bark and plants.
However, it’s essential not to neglect your feeders once they’re outdoors. Ideally, check the nectar daily and refill it as needed. You can even provide slightly warmer nectar to help hummingbirds stay energized during the winter season. To prevent freezing, consider wrapping your feeder reservoir in bubble wrap for added insulation.
With the right feeder and a little extra care, you can ensure that hummingbirds have a reliable food source throughout the winter months, helping them thrive even in the coldest of conditions.
Our Top Pick
Best Overall: REZIPO Hummingbird Feeder
It’s one of the best overall hummingbird feeders with beautifully designed glass and four ports. The Base part includes a specially designed rubber ring to prevent leaks.
Budget-Friendly: Aspects HummZinger Hummingbird Feeder
It’s a unique saucer-style hummingbird feeder with 6 ports and a 16-ounce nectar capacity. The Built-in ant moat prevents the nectar from all the crawling insects.
LIST OF BEST HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS FOR WINTER 2022
1. REZIPO Hummingbird Feeder
“REZIPO” is a specially designed feeder for the winter season to protect the nectar from freezing. Easy to clean and refill with a beautifully designed transparent glass reservoir. It has a wide-mouth and two-part base with attractive red flowers. The green, blow, and yellow bots on the hand-blown glass make it ideal for any garden. You will get 3 bonus things, including the metal hook, cotton lanyard, and brush with this beautiful hand-blown glass feeder. Use the metal hook along with ant-moat to provide extra safety to hummingbirds from insects. Hang this hummingbird-friendly toxic-free feeder anywhere in your garden.
Capacity and Ports
It has a 38-unce nectar capacity with 4 red flower feeding ports. The specially designed T-shaped perches provide extra comfort to hummingbirds during the winter season.
Rubber ring
Usually, glass feeders are more prone to leaks than plastic feeders, but REZIPO features a special innovative leak-proof ring to prevent leakage issues.
Easy to clean
It’s easy to clean the wide-mouth design. Use the included small brush to clean the feeding ports and other narrow areas of the feeder.
WHAT WE LIKE:
It has 4 feeding ports with 38-ounce nectar capacity.
Includes a rubber ring, which prevents it from leaks.
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
Little expensive as compared to other feeders in the list.
2. More Birds Orion Hummingbird Feeder
It’s another perfect winter choice for you with bright red colors to attract the hummingbirds. The red color base and top with the transparent glass reservoir are best to catch the hummingbird’s eyes. Detach the red base for a thorough cleaning, but don’t put it in the dishwasher as the high temperature can damage parts of the feeder. Especially it can strip the paint of the painted glass components. The white flower ports have the bee guard to discourage them from reaching the nectar.
Capacity and ports
There are five feeding ports with a 16-ounce nectar capacity. Each port feature a separate perching station for comfortable feeding.
Ant-moat
You don’t need any separate ant moat hook as its features a special built-in ant moat to prevent ants.
WHAT WE LIKE:
There are 5 ports and 16-ounce nectar capacity
It has ant-moat to prevent all the crawling insects.
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
It’s a little heavier hummingbird feeder.
3. Aspects HummZinger Hummingbird Feeder
It’s a plastic hummingbird feeder in our list but equally beneficial for the winter season like the glass feeders. The perfect tray design of the feeder allows the birds to feed with comfort and stay longer. Accurately keep track of the nectar with a built-in scale. Make sure to fill it on time before it’s empty, as many hummingbird species tongues can’t reach the depth of this feeder. The bright red cover attracts the birds from long distances and removes them very easily for quick cleaning. Use the long hanging rod to hang it anywhere on the tree or pole.
Capacity and ports
It has 6 feeding ports and a 16-ounce nectar capacity with an integrated wrap-around perch to encourage the birds to stay longer.
Ant-moat
This saucer feeder features a built-in ant moat to discourage ants and other crawling insects. Fill it with water, oil, are any other sticky liquid.
Light-weight
The plastic feeders are usually lighter than the glass feeders. This plastic feeder has only 1.3 pounds of weight, including the metal hanger.
WHAT WE LIKE:
It’s featuring the 6 ports with 16-ounce nectar capacity.
It has built-in ant moat. Make sure to fill it with liquid.
Light-weight hummingbird feeder with only 1.3 pounds weight.
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
Need refilling before it’s completely empty.
4. BOLITE 18017-R Hummingbird Feeder
It’s a red-glass diamond shape hummingbird feeder to use in the garden during the winter season. The unique hanger-style design allows you to hang it anywhere directly or use the S-hook along with the hanger. You can also use the ant-moot with S-hook to hang this feeder. BOLITE 18017-R is a three in one type feeder as it is made with glass, metal, and plastic material. The feeder’s base is made of plastic with a metal cap, while the nectar reservoir is made with glass. It’s a charming addition to your backyard during the winter.
Capacity and Ports
It has five red feeding ports over the metal cover with a 20-ounce nectar capacity, which is enough to provide great energy to hummingbirds throughout the day.
Easy cleaning
All the parts, including the plastic base, metal cover, and glass bottle, are separable, which is very beneficial when it’s come to cleaning.
WHAT WE LIKE:
It has 5 feeding ports with 20-ounce nectar capacity.
It’s a unique diamond shape hummingbird feeder.
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
Heavy weight feeder with 2.46 pounds weight.
5. First Nature 3055 Hummingbird Feeder
Are you looking for a low price hummingbird feeder for winter? This is going to be the best choice for you with the attractive bright red color. The bright red top and the bright base are the best to attract the most inquisitive hummingbirds. It can accommodate several birds at a time with beautiful red ports. Its wide mouth with a wider design allows you to mix the correct portion of water and sugar right in the feeder jar.
Capacity and ports
This feeder can feed up to 10 hummingbirds at a time with 10 feeding ports and 32-ounce nectar capacity—the ring-type 360-degree perch good for hummingbirds to feed with comfort.
Easy to use
It’s one of the easiest hummingbird feeders to use by First Nature. The two-part base of the feeder with a wide mouth provides you the easy cleaning and refilling.
WHAT WE LIKE:
It has 10 ports with 32-ounce nectar capacity.
A good feeder to buy if you have low Price range.
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:
Don’t include any special protection against ants and bees.
10 Tips to keep the hummingbird feeder from freezing during winter
Keeping the hummingbird feeder from freezing is important for many areas, especially in the North American regions where Anna’s hummingbirds are year-round residents. These hummingbirds don’t migrate and need enough nectar to survive the coldest temperature. In the dead of winter, it’s impossible to find a natural source of nectar. You need to provide a good source of nectar during this season, but the question is how to keep the feeder from freezing during the coldest temperatures. Let’s see some special techniques to prevent the nectar from freezing on the coldest days.
1. Use Incandescent lights around your feeder
Incandescent outdoor lights can generate enough warmth to keep the hummingbird feeder from freezing. These are also very attractive for the birds, especially the red, yellow, orange, and pink color light. But don’t use the energy-efficient lights as these are not much effective, especially during the bitter cold. Keep in mind the electric cords are perfect for outdoor use. Don’t use too many lights, especially for the plastic feeder.
2. Attach a hand warmer
You can also attach a hand warmer near your hummingbird feeder as they emit enough heat for 6 to 7 hours to keep the nectar warm. Use the duct tape to attach it near your feeder to keep the ports from freezing.
3. Use two feeders
Using two feeders and regularly rotating them is another good way to keep the nectar from freezing. This way, the feeder doesn’t get enough time to get frozen. Typically the nectar freezing temperature is 29 degrees Fahrenheit, so keep rotating your hummingbird feeders at that temperature.
4. Bring the feeder indoors at night
Fortunately, hummingbirds don’t drink on the coldest nights and consume enough water before sunset. So, you can bring your feeders indoors at night and put them back in the next morning.
5. Hang the feeder in the protected area
Try to put the feeder in a protected area, where it’s safe from wind and snow. At the same time, ensure that it’s getting most of the sun during the day. The perfect places to hang the feeder can be under the eave and next to a windbreak. Make sure the feeding ports of the feeder are not clogged with heavy snow or ice.
6. Use a Dome Baffle
Dome baffle is one of the best things to protect the hummingbird feeder from direct snow. Use a wide baffle above the feeder such that the hummingbirds can perch for some time under the baffle. The dark color baffle is more beneficial to keep the nectar warmer. You can also mount an umbrella above the feeder.
7. Insulate the feeder
Insulating the feeder with any cozy fabric is another good way to keep the nectar from freezing. You can use the stitched wool sock or any discarded sweater or blanket to cover the feeder. But make sure the blanket does not block the feeder ports.
8. Use heat tape with a thermostat
Wrapping the feeder with a plumber’s heat tape is one of the best ways to keep the feeder from freezing. It’s a flexible electric tape like the flat extension cord, which can easily be wrapped around a wide variety of feeders. Many of these wires also come with a built-in thermostat to keep the nectar at the right temperature.
9. Change the ratio into 3:1
The standard ratio of the water and sugar is 4:1, which normally freeze at 27 degrees Fahrenheit. But if you change the ratio to 3:1, it’s likely to remain liquid for more time than the 4:1 ratio. The nectar-frozen time will increase with additional sugar, but don’t add too much sugar that hummingbirds can’t digest.
10. Buy a heated hummingbird feeder
Many heated hummingbird feeders are also available in the market, which actually features a birdbath heater below the feeder. This heater is generating enough heat to keep the nectar from freezing.
Frequently Asked Question:
What can I feed the hummingbirds during winter?
The sweet nectar is one of the best food to feed hummingbirds. They need a lot of nectar daily, especially during the winter season. But they also eat some insects to meet their protein, vitamins, and minerals requirements. You can locate the hummingbirds around the bark and plants in search of insects during the winter.
How can I help hummingbirds in the winter?
Many species of hummingbirds don’t migrate during the winter as well. You can help these species in different ways.
- Hang more feeders in your garden as Anna’s hummingbirds don’t share the feeder well.
- Keep the nectar from freezing during the winter season.
- Offer them fresh water to drink and bathe.
Which is the best place to hang the feeder in winter?
Winter hummingbird feeders usually need to put under the shelter where they are safe from the most severe winds. Placing the feeder near the house is more suitable to keep a check on nectar regularly. You can also take it indoors at night.
