Article Writing Speed-run: Hummingbird Feeders

Sample Article From Our Speed Run 

(Note: Please pardon my bad parody of Better Homes & Gardens. And I know absolutely nothing about hummingbirds.)

If you want to cheaply attract hummingbirds to your yard, you should feed them white sugar rather than organic cane sugar. Hummingbirds are an attractive addition to a Southern Garden and are pleasing to look at. The lady of the house enjoys watching our hummingbirds frolic every morning.

Hummingbirds are attracted to brightly colored bird feeders that contain sugar water. We put a red bird feeder out this past winter and quickly had a number of hummingbirds stop by. This feathered attention only increased when the lady of the house started regularly filling these bird feeders with sugar water. These visits quickly became the highlight of our morning breakfast routine – we would sip our coffee together as a couple and watch our flock of hummingbirds seek their morning libations.

While we thought there might be a benefit from using a more “organic” sugar to attract the birds, we quickly learned that there was no real advantage from using organic cane sugar. In theory, cane sugar should be more natural and appealing to the birds. It is a clear light brown color and would more close replicate the kind of nectar that these birds could find in the wild. What we learned, however, was when we filled two bird feeders with different types of sugar water, was that the birds were actually slightly less interested in the cane sugar than the traditional sugar. This became very apparent over time as the traditional sugar feeder quickly emptied and the birds flew away, leaving food water in the cane sugar feeder. While we thought we were doing the right thing for the environment, it was clear the birds felt otherwise. And we want to make our feathered friends happy!

This turned out to be a great way to save money. Organic cane sugar is as expensive as sin and requires a trip to a fancy grocery store. We were able to cut our cost by two thirds with 5 lb paper bags of regular, old fashioned store brand sugar to help our feathered friends get their morning meal. This was super helpful in keeping the cost of taking care of our hummingbird friends low! Now that’s doing the right thing by both the planet and your wallet!

In conclusion, when it comes to taking care of nature, the old ways are best. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know our feathered friends in the morning. If you want to try this out for yourself, you can buy your own cute hummingbird feeder at Amazon. We recommend a nice red one – it was a lovely addition to our crape myrtles. And be sure to stop by your local Publix store for a 5 lb bag of good old fashioned white sugar! Be seeing you around the yard.