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Hummingbird nectar calculator

The recipe is simple — 4 parts water to 1 part white sugar, no red dye, no honey. Choose ½–8 US cups of water below, and get the exact amounts plus how often to swap it out.

2cups (473 ml)
Water
2 cups
473 ml
White sugar
½ cups
8 tbsp · approximately 100 g

Make it

  1. Mix ½ cup sugar into 2 cups hot water until fully dissolved.
  2. Let it cool to room temperature before filling the feeder.
  3. No red dye, no honey, no substitutes — plain white sugar only.
  4. Store extra in the fridge up to a week.

Change it often: every 2–3 days, and daily in very hot weather — cloudy nectar has spoiled and can harm birds. Clean the feeder before each refill. Do not wait for cloudiness to change the nectar.

Common 4:1 batches

Measure water and dry white sugar separately. These are ingredient volumes, not finished nectar yields.
WaterWhite sugar
½ cup⅛ cup (2 tbsp)
1 cup¼ cup
2 cups½ cup
4 cups1 cup

Cleaning rhythm: replace nectar every 2–3 days and daily in very hot weather; discard it sooner if cloudy or moldy. Wash ports and reservoir before refilling.

Source: Cornell Lab: feeding hummingbirds. The 4:1 ratio is by volume, not by weight; gram amounts are approximate.

What to put it in

Nectar spoils fast in heat, so the feeder that gets cleaned is the one that comes apart. Compare the designs and choose one you can take apart and wash. BirdingScore is an overall research score, not a cleaning test.

Compare all hummingbird feeders

Nectar and feeder-care options

Plain white-sugar nectar is enough. If you want ready-made nectar or an ant moat, compare these options; neither replaces washing the feeder.

Compare all nectar & feeder care

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