How to Clean Your Hummingbird Feeders 

Love your hummingbird videos!!!! For years and years, my mother had a feeder in the side yard of our home, at the kitchen sink window so she could watch and talk to them while the little hummers fed. They got to know her very well by sight. When she was in the backyard and unaware that the feeder was empty, the little hummers would start buzzing around her head, then follow her to the back door. They'd be waiting for her at the front door when she came out with more "juice", then follow her to the feeder. After refilled, she'd hold it up and they'd feed right away. (I did this many times, too.) Sometimes, the tamer ones would sit on her shoulder for a moment or two. Her hummingbirds were very important and brought such joy into her life. She had a few feeders hung up outside her apartment sliding glass door at her retirement facility. She enjoyed sitting outside, crocheting and watching them feed until the day she died. Whenever I see hummingbirds, I think of my mother. 😊 Thanks for sharing your videos!

This was a very important video that changed my feeder cleaning habits- I will no longer be using dish soap to clean them, and will be sharing this with other hummer lovers.

I have found that pipe cleaners are very useful for cleaning. Also, baby bottle brushes. Both of these are available at the dollar store.

I had to watch this video multiple times because there is so much information in it. Thank you. I don't want to hurt the birds.

Carol you were major in Chemistry ! You are a scientific women with a love for nature !!! AWESOME

If you have to buy the hard to clean feeders, buy more than you need, so you can keep fresh clean ones inside to use when you need to change your outside feeders. Just fill the clean ones, put them out, bring in the dirty ones, and it gives you time to properly clean/soak them before using them again.

Glad to see your using First Nature feeders. We have tried most brands but First Nature is simply the best. We maintain our 20 feeders with a thorough rinse of hot tap water after a dip in 30 to 1 bleach. Also, we hang our feeders in shaded locations.

My first feeders were plastic & they grew mold very fast. I switched to glass feeders which are like upside down jars. I haven’t seen mold since and they are very easy to clean. I will start using vinegar right away. Thank you for the excellent information!

I'm 60 years old and learning something new every day. Thank you for sharing your insightful knowledge about hummingbirds other related matters.

A lot of work to keep these birds fed. I don’t know if I would have the patience to keep this work up. Blessings to you and yours for doing so.

The brushing is great! After the brushing... swabbing with a soft dish wand or cloth gets what the bristles can miss. Think...you can't get windows really clean with only a brush. Don't forget to also sanitize the brushes and dish wand/cloth after using. Great video!

Wow, I've been doing everything wrong. I need to throw away my pretty glass feeder with no access to the inside except the four little feeder holes and buy a more practical feeder. No wonder I only saw one hummingbird the months I had my feeder out. RU-vid fed me your hatch-watch channel yesterday and now I'm hooked on hummingbirds again. Thanks for the lesson.

A possible answer to why your feeders are so moldy is the way you are scrubbing them with firm, sharp bristles. This gives the mold somewhere to grow rapidly inside all the scratches and grooves in the plastic surface that are created by the hard bristles. Use only a soft, non abrasive rag to clean a new feeder. Replace all scratched plastic feeders with new smooth feeders and the algae should be kept at bay. Good luck and love your videos!

Thanks for bringing awareness about this. We use lots of different size brushes to make sure we get it really clean. I also like to feed the song birds so I also clean their feeder regularly and clean the bird baths daily and refill with fresh water. When you keep up with it, you will have beautiful birds in your yard all day long which is the richest reward.

Hi Carol! Thank you for making this video! You did a great job! Stay well! 💕😷

I have four feeders, all alike. They disassemble completely and are easy to clean. I fill a plastic dishpan with hot sudsy water and add a bit of chlorine bleach. They soak about 10 minutes. Then I brush and rinse thoroughly, and set the parts on a dish towel to drain. I do this each time I fill the feeders.

This video was extremely helpful. You are a warm, sincere lady that I enjoy learning from! I can't wait for the return of my hummers this spring!

I buy two of every feeder so it’s easy to have one to hang back up while washing the other one or letting it soak …. 😉💙💐

So glad to find this. I scrub my feeders but didn’t get all this info when I bought them. They said not to use anything but water & a brush. I’m so glad to know more now!

Thanks for the warning about vinegar and hydrogen peroxide! I didn't know! Also the info about old Clorox! Things I never knew! Really terrific video, Carole! Much appreciated!

I have three hummingbird feeders that I rotate out and put in my dishwasher. I use dishwasher detergent with bleach. Part of my emptying the dishwasher routine is to refill the clean hummingbird feeder and switch it out. I still have to go into the small holes and crevices with a pipe cleaner, and give them a good rinse in vinegar to make sure there is no build up, but I find that washing them in the dishwasher first makes it feel easier and I am more likely to remember to do it if its ingrained as part of my daily (or every other day) chores. This is not a way to keep hummingbirds completely safe, but I find it is the most practical way I have found to keep up with cleaning, otherwise I forget.

Wow.... I’m so glad I saw this video. I’ve been dying to put some feeders out but had no idea it was so involved and time consuming. If I had to keep throwing out perfectly good solution to clean the feeders everyday I couldn’t afford to keep buying such an enormous supply of the solution. At least I know it’s something I won’t be able to do because I certainly would want to avoid anything that would make those beautiful forces of nature sick.

Great info to take care of our precious hummingbirds- thank you!

Carole, Thanks a lot. I love this video. You are the best.

Carole, you are awesome. Thanks for making these videos!

Thanks for the video. I have two feeders, and one can air dry while I fill the other. Our Anna’s hummers stay here all year, so I’ve been known to change the feeder three times a day due to freezing! I clean them every single time I refill, just thought that’s what we were supposed to do

Great information Carole! I love your channel I have learned so much from you especially from the live chat! Thank you 😊

Thank you for the information to help us feed hummingbirds safely!

This woman is a treasure. ❤

I love following you! I am new to hummingbird care, and you have helped me so much! Thank you!

So glad I found you! Very informative and pleasant. Thank you

Thank you, Carol! I learned so much from this video. This is our first year having a hummingbird feeder. The tag on the feeder says how to clean it, but not how often. We only have one pair of hummingbirds, so they don't use the food very quickly. We were wondering if we just let them use it up more before emptying and cleaning, but were thinking that sugar water outside would certainly go bad. Now I know to just make small batches of food and clean the feeder every few days max (high temperatures here have been in the 50's and 60's). Thank you again for this helpful video and for showing us the beauty of so many unique and lovely hummingbirds in your videos!🙂👍

Thank you for all you do to show us these beautiful birds God has created. ❤❤

Your collection of brushes is awesome!! I was in stitches when you used the dollar store brush. It looked like you were angry with the feeder. Wrenched that brush around and then threw it on the counter. Hahaha. You're a no-nonsense brush user!! I think that feeder may have had a "brush with death". Only 3 things I can add...1. I use brushes designed to clean the inside of a plastic or metal straw. I believe they come in different sizes. I use them for a ton of different things. They work well on the feeder holes. 2. I have a chain mail square that I use on my cast iron pans. It's floppy so it slides inside the main part of the feeder. I add soap and a little water and then I shake it and swirl it to slide the chain mail all over the inside. That works pretty well too. 3. get rid of the yellow plastic flowers. The hummers don't need them.

Great video! I use the long handle, mini brushes that come with Reusable straws to clean the ports on my feeder. It works real well.

Let's keep are hummingbird friends healthy

Great info. Thank you. I have 7 feeders around in the backyard with at least 40 hummers. I clean and fill feeders at least twice a day with warm water and brushes. Your video has taught me to use vinegar for better cleaning. I really appreciate the information!

Carol, I have a single "flying saucer" feeder hanging at any given time, and a second clean feeder is always ready to go. My own cleaning technique uses Palmolive green dish soap and water, with a dedicated sponge not used for anything else but these feeders. I use the sponge (and not the greenie scouring pad) to avoid scratching the plastic surfaces because a scuffed-up feeder makes it harder to see the contents inside. I also think a scratched feeder gives more hiding places for microbes! Once cleaned and thoroughly rinsed the spare feeder is hung up to air dry in the kitchen. It's "on call", ready for the next nectar refresh!

Thank-you Carol for the excellent video.☮️

Very informative! Thank You !

Thank you so much for the tutorial! Soaking the feeder in plain water after a chlorine wash and fresh water first rinse should get into all the nooks and crannies if you're worried about not getting all the chlorine wash water out. I used to do that for my fish tank parts. Wash, rinse under running water then immerse a minute in fresh water soak and swish it around before draining

Thank you so much for making this video. My pet peeve, dirty hummingbird feeders. People have become interested in bird feeding because of covid, and there are triple the number of feeders in the neighborhood this year. I can actually see that the feeders are dirty as I walk by. How can one tactfully tell their neighbors to either keep the feeders clean, or don't feed them at all. I've actually seen a hummingbird come to my feeder who obviously had a swollen tongue. I was devastated. I recorded it so I could research what the problem was, and found out about this condition.

Thank you Carol!

Thank you! This was so informative!

Thank you I need to clean my hummingbird feeder’s more often.

I use brushes too (I have 10 feeders that I have to refill some times everyday) and for the holes I use the tiny interdental brushes they are really good! I wash them every time I refill and every couple of weeks I soak them in an antibacterial antifungal solution or vinegar with water just in case something remains in the difficult to reach areas. Great video!

Great video. I first clean with just a drop or two of Dawn dishing soap and hot water. I follow that with a washing with white vinegar that is left to stand about a 1/2 hour before rinsing with hot water. Dry, fill then hang.

Very good information, thank you!

Thank you so much for making this video since I've done the Things you've said. My feeder is so much better 😌 I just got done cleaning my hummingbird feeder

Thanks, this was helpful, I am seeing many Hummingbirds this year in my yard. I have also been having fun doing close up video's of them feeding.

Super video! Thank you!

Thanks for the tips!!!

Very nice video!!! Thanks

I’ve watched a # of other videos and by far this one is one of the Best … A lot of others do NOT have the level detail given here Or give Listeners Misinformation

Damn right, Carol! I disinfect our feeders at every sugar water change every few days, depending on environmental conditions, w/ food service concentration bleach solution, scrub with a variety of bottle brushes, and neutralize w/white vinegar. I pour the bleach solution into succeeding feeder tanks, scrub and continue. Same with neutralizing with vinegar: pour into the next tank, slosh, etc. Economy of resources without sacrificing the integrity of the process. To the others who roll their eyes: if you don't want to put in the effort, then don't be a lazyass and put out feeders if you won't maintain them to a high standard. It's so easy to be a hack. Indeed, we love our hummers (of all kinds) and want to treat them the best we can. Sorry to be such a hardass, but it really is a simple concept.

Your videos are always so informative - thank you! I've been using ECOS liquid soaps and that seems to be working and switched to wide mouth glass feeder.

thanks for the video. it was really helpful :)

You are amazing I have learned so much. I only use Dawn dish detergent but now. I will now clean with Vinegar Thank You. ♥️

Thank you for your videos

Really helpful. Thanks so much!

How would someone know if they've rinsed the feeder well enough after soaking in the Clorox dilution? I tried rinsing until smell was gone or mostly gone.

Very helpful. Thank you.❤

Thanks, very informative video. My single feeder has holes just large enough for q-tips so that scrubs the holes and surrounding areas. I use a bottle brush for the main compartments. I'm now planning to get one more so that I can have a replacement feeder ready to fill and replace instantly. There was a day when I noticed one of them hovering and looking for the feeder and it was still soaking.... I had to hurry and make more sugar water and scrub the feeder. I could almost hear it sigh looking for it. I'm guessing that your life revolves around their happiness, health and well being and hope you have some time for your own meal breaks... :)

Very Informative, thank you!

Thank You🤗

I am in Martinique and this is useful. The birds have been quiet lately and there is one taken to perching on the feeder. Calling it home I guess to ward off others. But they are a beautiful sight.

Microbiologist.... I use glass and metal feeders. I boil my water and sugar in the microwave. I use a large glass measuring cup with a pour spout. In the sink I add the hot solution into the upside down feeder and add the bottom. I let it slowly cool overnight. This kills most microbes in the feeder and solution. Thanks for all of your tips!! I use your vinegar tip and space my feeders apart so they can't be easily seen by the defender! :-)

Merci! This was sent to family and friends.

Thanks so much for the Vitamin C tip!! I frequently worry about cleaning my fish tank decorations in bleach (which works best), but often takes forever for the smell to get out of the decorations.

Thank you for your video, very educational

Great info!

Thank you so much! ❤

Great channel!

That was really thorough. Thanks for telling us the Clorox weakens over time. Also, I use vinegar to clean everything, now I can use it for the feeders. After you clean the feeders should you dry them off with a clean, soft cloth to get any damp off of them?

Thank you so much for this video! I've always wanted to feed hummingbirds safely

Thank you!

I always use glass feeders and I fill four of them for six hummingbirds. I'm in AZ. and they are in the hot sun part of the day. Occasionally, we get ants, so if that happens I clean and replace the feeders. I have NEVER seen any black mold, but flying insects can get into the solution sometimes. The hummingbirds are black chinned and/or Calliope and they have been healthy and frequent visitors. I use Dawn soap and/or spray with a vinegar window cleaning solution while rinsing well. I have noted the slippery surface - I check that every time, but no mold ever. I greatly appreciate your advise and try to keep our little miracle friends happy and healthy. I replace the sugar water usually in a matter of days - probably in 3 or 4 days. We get the woodpeckers visiting, too, but they are very funny trying to get nectar with their big beaks - they tend to spill much of the solution, too. I spray insecticide on the stem of the Shepard's Hooks and at it's base to discourage ants. Certainly, it's wonderful to have a source like you for advise and I enjoyed your trip up the Andes in Ecuador, too. I remember in Brazil the hummingbirds can be as large as sparrows and there's huge flowers everywhere.

Great video I love it 👍🤝

very nice information ty

Lately I've only been filling my feeders up ,not even half full. I don't use bleach, I use dawn soap, and very hot water. It seems to get my feeders clean. I scrub everything, like no ones business. Thank you for the helpful video. I love my little hummers.

I love my hummingbird feeder it’s called so real single flower feeder. It only uses 1 cup of nectar. So 4 tablespoons of sugar. Easy to clean I just use a toothbrush I bought from dollar tree.

I use the feeders called HummZinger & HummBlossom by Aspects. Super, SUPER easy to clean👌🏻

I have some nice little brushes that I buy from Amazon that are made to get in the holes of the hummingbird feeders. I have bought several sets of them, because they come in handy for many other things around the house too.. I have hung hummingbird feeders for severalyears now. I pass on lots of my pointers to my friends.. One of the tips I give my friends is to buy the exact brand of feeder that you are showing here. First Nature. I learned the hard way that fancy glass feeders, aren't always practical. I swear by the the plastic ones made by First Nature because there easy to clean, easy to assemble, the holes are big enough that they attract Orioles where I live in the Spring.. And they have a perch for the hummingbirds to perch! There are also affordable!

Great info on the vitamin C! Btw I have the same kind of toaster/bagel oven. Unfortunately Sanyo stopped making them years ago and mines on it's last leg.

Thanks for all the Imfo. I could never find a brush smaller to fit my feeder..So I use a toothbrush] ... Its works good on my small glass feeder.

Thank you.

I appreciate your video. I have glass feeders and they have those flowers. I'll remove them, but I can't see going through so much Nectar by changing it out several times a day. I enjoy watching them (territorial), but wouldn't want to interrupt their activity doing that.

Thanks!

Thank you so much for your info. and video. I have a Great Value 7.5 sodium hypochlorite bleach that’s about 2-3 years ago old. What ratio to water do you think I should use?

Hi! Thank you so much for sharing such great information! Can I use Dr. bronner's pure castile soap for cleaning the feeders? Thanks!

Hi Sweetheart 👋 I love your videos

🌟Hello Beautiful One🌟 Love yr channel thanks for the tips…🥂

have a question for ya, i recently got a colorful handblown hummingbird feeder, i love it, but, i notice that the lil hummers will drink and then kind of peck at the colorful spots on the glass, do u think this is bad, its not like there pecking it hard, just kind of checking it out... cheers

Good morning. The feeders I've used for the past two years are a bit cheap and the hanging disk that attaches to the very top has come off on both of them last night while cleaning. I guess I'm going to get new ones. Most likely the same ones that just broke as I don't have lots of money for new ones and the same models are $4:18 at Walmart. Should I clean the new ones before filling them with nectar? Thank you in advance for any answers. They went about two whole years of feeding them without stop.

Hello. I got tied of so much scrubbing , so I went to the feeders that are a bowl with a lid hanging from a rod. So easy to get to all the places to clean. Just like washing a bowl. They are alittle more expensive but so worth the 💰 money. Just a suggestion. They are great.

I notice you have the same water filter tap thingie that I have. Do you use filtered water to make hummy food? We do, as the chlorine in our tap water is awful (if I don't like it, hummies won't like it either). We clean our feeders every few days so we rarely see black mold.

I usually clean my feeders with scalding hot water, following with brushes. For the hard to clean parts, I use an old mascara brush or a toothbrush, and usually hand dry. I’ll share this info with others - thanks!

I’m curious if copper feeders resist mold and bacteria better? I’ve never seen black mold but I do wash diligently. I’ve wanted to add more feeders tho and copper are very expensive That tip about the vitamin C neutralizing chlorine bleach is fantastic!

For the first time last year I had an issue with bees (I think they were honey bees) in my hummingbird feeders. I've been feeding for over 30 years and have never seen this type of behavior. I'm not talking one or two, I'm talking about fifty bees around one feeder, and more that died inside the feeders.....and several different types of feeders (bottle, flat, etc). This went on for over a month. I thoroughly cleaned the feeders and sanitized them daily. I threw out a couple of feeders that had large ports. I'm a little afraid this will happen again this year. Any suggestions if it does?

I clean all my feeders at least every other day I use dish soap and a tooth brush to clean most of the surfaces and I put drop of dish soap on a mascara brush and clean the ports with that's I make sure I rinse it off real good with hot water and dry it a little bit and I figure that's a good way to clean them