Every guide on The Faunalist in one archive. Browse identification help, species profiles, feeding advice, and regional birding guides for North American backyards.
Yes, birds do eat wasps. While most birds avoid the sting, at least 11 North American species actively hunt wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets, and one, the Summer Tanager, is a true specialist. Here is exactly which birds eat wasps, how they dodge the sting, and how to attract them to your yard. Among the stinging…
The internet is full of claims that a single Purple Martin eats 2,000 mosquitoes per day. That number is a myth, it’s been thoroughly debunked by ornithologists at the Purple Martin Conservation Association, who actually fed Purple Martins mosquitoes to study what they eat, and found that mosquitoes are a tiny portion of their diet….
A flower garden can attract birds nearly as effectively as a feeder, and unlike feeders, flowering plants provide everything birds need across the breeding and migration seasons: nectar for hummingbirds, seeds for finches and sparrows, insects (especially caterpillars and pollinators) for nesting parents to feed their young, and structural cover for shelter. The right flowers…
The single most effective thing you can do to attract birds to your yard isn’t a feeder, a bath, or even a nest box. It’s planting the right plants. A yard with three or four well-chosen native plants supports more bird species, more nesting pairs, and more total bird activity than any number of feeders…
The single most common question from new hummingbird-feeders: how often should I change the nectar? The answer isn’t a single number, it depends entirely on outside temperature. Whether you call it hummingbird food, nectar, or sugar water, the same schedule applies to the standard 4 to 1 mix. At 90°F, nectar needs replacing daily. At…
Where you hang your hummingbird feeder matters more than what feeder you bought, what color it is, or even what nectar you fill it with. A perfect feeder in the wrong location stays empty; a basic feeder in the right location attracts hummingbirds within days. This guide covers the exact placement rules that actually matter,…
Ants find sugar water within days. Once they discover your hummingbird feeder, they swarm it, fall into the nectar, drown by the dozens, and contaminate the entire reservoir, which then repels the hummingbirds you’ve set up to attract. The good news: keeping ants out of hummingbird feeders is a solved problem. The single best solution…
A DIY hummingbird feeder costs nearly nothing, takes 15 to 30 minutes to build, and works just as well as a commercial $25 feeder. Whether you want a kid-friendly weekend craft, a backup feeder during peak season, a portable design for camping, or a creative repurposing project, the principles are the same: a clean nectar…
The correct hummingbird sugar water recipe is 1 part white granulated sugar to 4 parts water. That’s the entire recipe. No red dye, no honey, no brown sugar, no commercial mixes, no organic alternatives, just plain white sugar and water in that exact ratio. This recipe matches the average sucrose concentration of the flower nectar…
A dirty hummingbird feeder isn’t just unappealing, it’s actively dangerous to the birds you’re trying to help. Fermented nectar and accumulating black mold in feeder ports cause avian candidiasis, a fatal fungal tongue infection that has killed countless hummingbirds at neglected feeders. The good news: thorough cleaning takes about 5 minutes and uses items you…