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With their tiny jewel-toned bodies and super-fast wings, hummingbirds are one of the most charming avian species to attract to a yard. But unlike most backyard-friendly birds, hummers aren't interested in seeds and can't use a standard bird feeder. Instead, hummingbirds require a feeder designed for their slender bills and long tongues that can be filled with the sweet nectar they crave.

Hummingbird feeders come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. To learn which characteristics a hummingbird prefers, we spoke with experts from the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center and the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology. Combining their expertise and extensive online research, we came up with the best hummingbird feeders across six categories.

Best hummingbird feeder overall: Aspects Hummzinger Hummingbird Feeder, $24.99 at Amazon The easy-to-clean Aspects Hummzinger Hummingbird Feeder has four red feeding ports and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Best budget hummingbird feeder: More Birds Bird Health + Ruby Feeder, $14.99 at Amazon The bargain-priced More Birds Bird Health + Ruby Feeder has a simple bottle design both you and the hummingbirds will appreciate.

Best glass hummingbird feeder: More Birds Bird Health Diamond Hummingbird Feeder, $19.99 at Amazon The large-capacity More Birds Bird Health Diamond Hummingbird Feeder holds 30 ounces of nectar and has five bee-guard feeding ports.

Best window-mounted hummingbird feeder: Aspects Jewel Box Window Hummingbird Feeder $30.89 at Amazon A hinged lid and lifetime guarantee make the Aspects 407 Jewel Box Window Feeder an ideal way to watch hummingbirds feed up close.

Best saucer hummingbird feeder: Sherwood Base Cuboid Hummingbird Feeder, $15.99 at Amazon The versatile Sherwoodbase Hummingbird Feeder 2-in-1 can be hung from a hook or suctioned to a window and comes with a lifetime guarantee. 

Best decorative hummingbird feeder: Hand-Painted Double Hummingbird Feeder, $54 at Uncommon Goods The lovely Hand-Painted Double Hummingbird Feeder is made from recycled glass and has a simple design that can be thoroughly cleaned with a bottle brush.

The easy-to-clean Aspects HummZinger Hummingbird Feeder has four red feeding ports and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

There are a wide variety of hummingbird feeder designs, and according to our experts, the birds don't have a preference when it comes to a feeder's material or shape. What matters most is the color of the feeder. 

"Hummingbirds are attracted to red because flowers pollinated by hummingbirds are often red," said Holly Grant, NestWatch project assistant at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York. Because wasps and bees are attracted to the color yellow, avoid feeders that have yellow ports, guards, or "flowers," she said. Aside from that, our experts say that choosing a feeder that is easy to take apart and thoroughly clean is more important than its aesthetics.

The plastic Aspects HummZinger Hummingbird Feeder meets our criteria for a great feeder. It is a cinch to fill and clean. The 7.75-inch-diameter saucer feeder has a clear dish that detaches from the bright red cover, and neither piece has nooks and crannies that are challenging to clean. A perch wraps around the circumference of the 12-ounce feeder, and the cover has four raised, red flower-shaped feeding ports. An ant moat built into the base can be filled with water to keep crawling insects out of the nectar. This feeder can be hung from its brass hook or mounted to a post.

The bargain-priced More Birds Bird Health + Ruby Feeder has a simple bottle design both you and the hummingbirds will appreciate.

"If you want to attract hummingbirds, keep it simple," said Stephanie Green, an ecologist at the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center in Holly Springs, Mississippi. "You can have all the fun in the world using an inexpensive feeder, as long as you clean it and fill it." 

Keep things even more cost-effective by making your own nectar at home using sugar and water rather than purchasing a commercial version. And skip adding red dye to the mixture. According to Green, it can be harmful to birds.

The affordable More Birds Bird Health + Ruby Feeder is a basic 8.75-inch-long glass tube feeder with a body and mouth that are wide enough to accommodate a bottle brush easily. The 10-ounce feeder has a BPA-free plastic red top and base, and the latter has an outer ring for comfortable perching. It also has four bee-guard feeding ports with white flowers and a built-in ant moat for discouraging insects. It's easy to fill and clean the tube — just unscrew it from the base.

The large-capacity More Birds Bird Health Diamond Hummingbird Feeder holds 30 ounces of nectar and has five bee-guard feeding ports.

If you have so many hummers buzzing around your yard that you have to refill your feeder's nectar daily, a large-capacity bottle can help minimize your work. Just be aware that hummingbirds are very territorial and may squabble over who has access to the feeding ports on a single bottle. "You will attract more hummingbirds that can feed with fewer disruptions if you place several small feeders around your yard rather than just one large feeder," said Grant.

The More Birds Bird Health Diamond Hummingbird Feeder is similar to the budget Ruby Feeder. Like that design, the Diamond has an easy-to-clean glass bottle, a BPA-free plastic red top and base, and a built-in ant moat and perch. But the Diamond is significantly larger, with a 10.75-by-8-inch spiral tube that holds 30 ounces of nectar to feed a lot of hummingbirds at five white-flowered bee-guard feeding ports.

A hinged lid and lifetime guarantee make the Aspects Jewel Box Window Hummingbird Feeder an ideal way to watch hummingbirds feed up close.

A window feeder gives bird watchers a close-up view of their feathered friends without A window feeder gives bird watchers a close-up view of their feathered friends without disturbing their meal. "Hummingbirds are unusually fearless and come readily to window feeders," said Grant. She recommends placing feeders in the coolest areas where there is some wind protection. 

Green said that, although in her experience hummingbirds are a little less attracted to feeders hung in the shade, keeping your feeder out of the sun will prevent its nectar from quickly spoiling.

The half-moon-shaped Apsects Jewel Box Window Hummingbird Feeder is a drip-and-leak-proof saucer that attaches to a window with two plastic suction cups. The hinged red lid with three feeding ports and a perch along the edge opens wide for easy filling and cleaning. An optional ant moat is included. The 6-by-8.5-by-2.2-inch Jewel Box holds up to 8 ounces of nectar and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

The versatile Sherwoodbase Cuboid Hummingbird Feeder can be hung from a hook or suctioned to a window and comes with a lifetime guarantee. 

"Dish feeders [or saucer feeders] are good for a 360 degree view of feeding, since sometimes it's hard to see a bird that's behind a bottle," said Green. Most hummingbird feeders of both the saucer and tube varieties come with ant moats, which are water basins that discourage crawling insects from getting into the sweet, sticky nectar. 

If you need more protection against bugs, Grant recommends putting a dab of petroleum jelly on the hanging wire. Just make sure that it is far enough from the feeding birds that it won't accidentally get on their feathers.

The Sherwoodbase Cuboid Hummingbird Feeder is a versatile saucer feeder that can be hung from chains linked to its four corners or attached to a window using suction cups. Its red lid has five bee-guard feeding ports and detaches entirely from the base for cleaning. The 7.7-by-6.1-by-1.77-inch saucer holds up to 8 ounces of nectar and is bordered by a built-in ant moat. The 2-in-1 also comes with a tiny feeder hole brush, a lifetime warranty, and a 30-day money-back guarantee with no questions asked.

The lovely Hand-Painted Double Hummingbird Feeder is made from recycled glass and has a simple design that can be thoroughly cleaned with a bottle brush.

When nectar is left out too long in warm weather, it can grow harmful mold and bacteria. To prevent visiting hummers from getting sick, Grant recommends cleaning them frequently. "Scrub your feeders with a clean bottle brush and very hot water and refill them every three days," she explained. "When it's over 90 degrees, sugar water may spoil in two days or less."

Be especially careful with decorative hummingbird feeders. Despite being beautiful to look at, these feeders are often more challenging to get completely clean than less complex tube and saucer feeders. 

The pretty little Hand Painted Double Hummingbird Feeder designed by artist Alfredo Garcia-Luco and fabricated by artisans in San Miguel Allende, Mexico, is made from recycled glass to resemble a simple lidded pot de crème. It comes in blue or clear glass and is decorated with delicate pink flowers. Two molded red glass flower feeding ports are narrow enough to keep bees from getting into the nectar inside, and there is a removable bottle stopper on the top of the feeder for cleaning and filling. The 6-inch diameter, 7-inch-tall feeder dangles from a metal hanger secured around the belly of the glass dish.

To select the products recommended for feeding hummingbirds, we came up with a set of criteria based on the advice of Grant, Green, and a variety of online sources. We then searched through the hummingbird feeders available at major retailers to find those that best met our standards. Our selection criteria included:

There are three primary types of hummingbird feeders: saucer or dish-style feeders, bottle or tube-style feeders, and decorative feeders.

Glass and plastic are equally good options for a hummingbird feeder, according to both of our experts. "Whatever kind you buy, just keep an eye on it to make sure it's in good condition and there aren't any hidden areas like deep scratches in plastic that can harbor harmful microbes," said Grant.

"Hummingbirds prefer feeders near trees and shrubs where they can perch to rest and observe their surroundings, and feed on nearby natural food between visits," said Grant. She recommends placing feeders in the coolest areas of your yard and places with some protection from wind. Keeping your feeder out of the sun will also help the nectar last longer without spoiling.

"There's no one feeder shape that's better than others," said Green. "If you think about it, the plants that they're feeding from are a wide array of shapes, so there's no one-size-fits-all."

Grant recommends using a ratio of one part sugar to four parts hot or boiling water. In colder, wet weather, the ratio can be increased to one part sugar to three parts water. Avoid using special sugars in your nectar. "Some raw sugars or organic kinds have additives which may be harmful to hummingbirds, and honey tends to cause mold growth. Regular white sugar is just fine," she said.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) mainly impacts geese, ducks, domestic poultry, and raptors, said Grant. "Songbirds are much less likely than waterfowl to contract avian influenza and are less likely to shed large amounts of the virus, meaning they do not transmit the disease easily." As of June 2022, Cornell Lab of Ornithology is not recommending that people take their feeders down unless they also keep domestic poultry. For more information, visit their All About Birds page on Avian Influenza.

Holly Grant, NestWatch Project Assistant, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York

Holly Grant is a NestWatch project assistant at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She also previously served as a project assistant for the lab's Project FeederWatch. Grant holds a degree in conservation biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. We interviewed Grant via email on May 6, 2022.

Stephanie Green, ecologist, Strawberry Plains Audubon Center, Holly Springs, Mississippi 

Stephanie Green has been an ecologist at the Strawberry Plains Audubon Center since 2017. She has a bachelor's degree in biology from Berea College and a master's degree in forest ecology and habitat systems from the University of Kentucky. We consulted Green over email on May 9, 2022.

All About Birds, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Avian Influenza Outbreak: Should You Take Down Your Bird Feeders? Accessed May 26, 2022.

Audubon Society. How to Make Hummingbird Nectar. Accessed May 11, 2022

Audubon Society. Hummingbird Feeding FAQs. Accessed May 11, 2022

Bird Watching HQ. How to Clean Your Hummingbird Feeder. Accessed May 11, 2022

Project Feederwatch. Attracting Hummingbirds. Accessed May 11, 2022

Thompson, Bill, III. Prepare for Peak Hummingbird Season. Here's How!, Bird Watcher's Digest. Accessed May 11, 2022 

Thompson, Bill, III. Tips on Choosing Hummingbird Feeders, Bird Watcher's Digest. Accessed May 26, 2022

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