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From: phz@cadence.com (Pete Zakel)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Bird feeding and migration
Message-ID: <9009072212.AA07107@cds709.noble.com>
Date: 7 Sep 90 22:12:01 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Lines: 43

john@nmt.edu (John Shipman) writes:
}Pete Zakel (phz@cadence.com) writes:
}+--
}| Although [hummingbirds] might not *need* the extra vitamins
}| and minerals, I can attest the fortified nectar goes *much*
}| faster than the regular stuff (although that could be because
}| they like having less food coloring, I suppose, or perhaps the
}| lack of preservatives in the fortified mixture attracts them more....
}+--
}
}How do you know that the contents of the nectar are the sole
}factor in the hummers' decisions?  What about the location
}of the feeder, the shape of the nozzle, the percentage of
}sugar, and hundreds of other variables?

It's always the same feeders, in the same locations, with only the contents
changing.  The two feeders always have slightly different contents (I switch
between all three Perky-Pet nectars and the two feeders always each have a
different nectar).  The "Light" nectar is *always* consumed faster, no
matter which of the two feeders contains it.  Since the feeders and locations
remain constant, I conclude the difference must be in the nectar.

}+--
}| I suppose I could switch to straight sugar, but I like the
}| fact that the nectar has finer granules which dissolve
}| better (undissolved sugar in the nectar is very bad for
}| hummers for the same reason honey is bad -- can cause
}| infection on a hummer's tongue which frequently means death...),
}+--
}
}Sources, please---other than Perky-Pet's self-serving literature.
}Also, it *is* possible to get sucrose completely into solution.  Try
}using warm water, or stirring a lot.

I never said it wasn't possible to get sucrose completely into solution.
I simply stated a preference for the finer granules in the Perky-Pet
*because* they dissolve easier and faster.  My sources are direct eyeball
observations of store-bought granulated sugar and Perky-Pet nectar.

Or are you claiming that undissolved sugar is harmless to hummers?

-Pete Zakel
 (phz@cadence.com or ..!{hpda,versatc,apollo,ucbcad,uunet}!cadence!phz)