How to prevent ants from entering the hummingbird feeder
Looking for a way to prevent ants from accessing hummingbird feeders?
You will also draw some undesirable guests in the shape of ants if you provide delicious nectar for your hummingbirds.
A complete colony of ants, not just one or two, is trying to appease the queen.
In actuality, ants are detrimental to your hummingbird feeders.
By being caught or drowning, ants jam up the feeding ports and taint the nectar.
In reality, hummingbirds don’t consume ants, thus the insects are just another source of food competition.
Additionally, ant species that are more aggressive may try to assault hummingbirds at your feeder.
Although an ant invasion is unlikely to result in a hummingbird’s death, it will discourage them from returning to your feeder.
You therefore need a fix for this, am I right?
This article will outline 13 natural techniques to keep ants away from your hummingbird feeders. Now, killing the ant would damage the ecosystem of your garden, so we don’t want to do that.
I’ll also show you five ways to prevent ants from coming near your hummingbird feeder that you should never employ.
All right? So let’s get started.
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How to Keep Ants Out Of Hummingbird Feeders
1. Ant Moats
Using an ant moat is the simplest approach to prevent ants from getting to the feeding ports.
Any ants that attempt to get onto your hummingbird feeder through the hanging hook will be caught in an ant moat.
In essence, it serves as a water-filled barrier between the feeding ports and the hanger.
Ant moats may be present in hummingbird feeders that are shaped like boats or saucers.
You can install an ant moat on your feeder in one of three methods.
a. Buy Readymade
A hummingbird feeder with built-in moats is available for purchase.
Here are some fantastic examples of ant moat-equipped hummingbird feeders.
These are quick and simple because your new feeder comes with everything you need already assembled.
This is the best choice if you’re just getting started with hummingbird feeding.
b. Buy An additional Hook
Hummingbirds typically have a favorite feeder. That implies that switching from your current feeder to new ones may be challenging for you.
An excellent solution to this problem is to get an ant moat hook.
You just place a second hook between your feeder and the support it hangs from.
The only issue with this is that the individual ant moats, which cost about $7 each, may be pretty expensive. Nevertheless, if you have numerous hummingbird feeders, you may buy them in bulk for much less money.
c. Make your own
You may easily create your own ant moats if you want to save some money.
Take a look at this DIY ant moat guide.
2. Use Wire
Ants must have the ability to descend the hangers in order to access your hummingbird feeder.
Ants find it simple to move along this surface if it has a thick how or chain.
Making it more difficult for them to descend is a straightforward approach to stop this from happening.
You can accomplish this by hanging your hummingbird feeders on a very thin wire, preferably fishing wire.
The ants will struggle to maintain their grasp since they are unable to balance down the wire.
The fishing line functions effectively on its own, as you’ll discover. Nothing greasy or sticky has to be added to the feeder.
3. Regular Maintenance
Your hummingbird feeder needs to be routinely maintained.
Your feeders may begin to fail due to weather conditions or aging.
Check your feeders frequently for any indications of cracks, faulty fittings, or broken components that could be leaking nectar.
Ants will have easy access to the nectar if the feeder leaks. Additionally, your feeder will smell better.
Which, as you would have imagined, will draw in more ants.
If your feeder is damaged beyond repair, get a new feeder with an ant moat instead.
Cover the broken portion of one of your feeding ports with duct tape. By doing this, ants won’t accidentally fall into the bigger hole and contaminate the nectar.
4. Clean regularly
In order to observe birds in your backyard, you need clean feeders. As a result, infections that are carried at feeders and damaged nectar are kept away from your hummingbird.
Hummingbirds spill sugar water all over the feeder as they consume, making them sloppy eaters.
As more ants follow the sweet scent trail, they will be drawn to this sugar water.
When determining how frequently to clean your feeder, also take the weather into account. When the windy conditions cause nectar to leak from the feeding ports, you might want to think about doing a daily clean.
5. Use the shade
Your hummingbird feeder’s nectar will expand in the heat and seep out. And those ants will be drawn to your feeders by the delicious, sugary perfume.
No matter how well-maintained your feeder is, these leaks will still occur.
Putting your feeders in a shaded location of your yard is the simplest method.
But if a place is too gloomy, the hummingbird can have trouble finding your feeders. Additionally, it may be difficult to situate your feeders in a tiny yard.
You can then purchase a weather protector for your feeder in that situation. This structure will shield the sun from your feeder.
Additionally, the guards are bigger than the feeder. This is excellent for preventing any falling ants from landing on your feeding ports by chance.
6. Place over water
The best area to put your feeder is near a pond or a water feature in your yard.
This approach is essentially an ant moat on a vast scale.
Because they can’t swim, ants find it difficult to cross huge bodies of water.
Any nectar spills below the feeder that draw ants will be cleaned up by the water.
The water will also draw hummingbirds to your yard to feed.
7. Move it around
Unbeknownst to you, ants will leave a scent trail leading to a tasty food source. This makes it simple for other ants to find the source.
The easiest method to prevent this is to regularly move your hummingbird feeders to various locations in your yard.
When there aren’t any ants on your feeders, perform this. Otherwise, this strategy won’t work since the ants’ fragrance will be carried back to their colony by their presence on the feeder.
The scent trail will be broken if the feeder is moved. The ants will give up trying to find the feeder.
The fact that hummingbirds are flexible and will quickly find the new feeder location is fantastic.
Therefore, you shouldn’t be concerned that the hummingbird won’t visit your feeder again.
8. Offer a decoy
The truth is that your feeder is not being deliberately targeted by ants. They simply adore having easy access to food sources.
By providing an easier-to-access alternative, you can help keep the colony away from your hummingbird feeders.
You can purchase an ant feeder and set it down. As opposed to the larger bird feeders, where they frequently drown, this makes it safer for the ants to consume the nectar.
Set up the ant feeder close to the colony. But position it such that it faces away from your hummingbird feeder. The distance the ants must travel to reach the food source won’t be very great.
In this approach, the likelihood of ants exploring your yard and discovering the hummingbird feeder is decreased.
9. Use Plant Power
Adding a lot of plants specifically for hummingbirds is one of the finest strategies to draw them to your yard. This offers a natural nectar source.
By adding some plants that repel ants, you can utilize this to keep ants at bay.
The following are the top ants to keep ants out of your yard:
- Lavender
- Rosemary
- Mint
- Thyme
- Tansy (hummingbirds love purple tansy)
- Chrysanthemums
These can be cultivated next to or beneath your hummingbird feeders. The ants won’t be eager to search for food nearby, as you’ll discover.
Observe any plants that appear to draw ants, such as:
- Roses
- Peony
- Clematis
- Pentstemon
You might want to completely avoid these. Alternately, consider placing them outside, away from your hummingbird feeders.
10. Food Repellants
There are many foods that keep ants away. Typically, this is due to their powerful odor, which obscures other odors and disrupts the trail.
These foods can be used to naturally deter ants from swarming the area surrounding your feeders.
What ants detest to eat is
- a bay leaf
- espresso grinds
- tangerine fruits
- Mint
- Vinegar
Try to distribute these foods evenly around the base of your feeder poles. Ants won’t be able to start reading your hummingbird feeders as a result of this.
Additionally, you can massage the foods over the feeder hook and feeder pole.
This “food wash” ought to be sufficient to cover up any scent trails left by ants who have previously