Get Rid of Ants at Your Nectar Bird Feeders

TOP WILD BIRD PRODUCTS

When you have nectar in your bird feeders for attracting birds like hummingbirds and orioles, you may have more visitors at these feeders than just birds.  I am talking about ants!  They absolutely love the sweet and sugary nectar.  Once one ant finds the source of nectar, you can bet you will have a huge ant infestation at your feeders.  One problem with this is that ants can consume tons of nectar.  Not only that, but they can also contaminate it!  Trust me, birds will not visit a feeder that has an ant infestation.

The best thing to do is to prevent ants from ever finding your nectar bird feeders in the first place.  The best feeder for this task is a dripless feeder like a saucer feeder.  Most saucer feeders have a built in area around the nectar saucer that can hold water, in which ants will be unable to swim across to reach the nectar.  If you have a saucer feeder that does not have this ant moat, you can purchase an ant guard like the Ant-Off Ant Guard Bell for Hummingbird Feeders.  You can attach your nectar feeder too the Ant-Off Ant Guard Bell for Hummingbird Feeders, and it will prevent ants from reaching your bird feeder.  It has a cute bell shape and is probably the cutest ant guard on the market.

There is a wide variety of saucer style hummingbird feeders.  One saucer feeder that I have had great results with  is the Happy Eight-2 Hummingbird Feeder.  This feeder is large, having 8 feeding ports.  But the best part about the Happy Eight-2 Hummingbird Feeder is that it has 2 insect guards.  Ants will never infest this feeder!   Another saucer feeder I like is the HummZinger Fancy Hummingbird Feeder, pictured to the right.  This feeder can come in red or fuchsia, which is great because both colors attract hummingbirds.  I like that the HummZinger Fancy Hummingbird Feeder has four feeding ports, but it does not have an ant moat, so you will have to purchase an ant guard, like the Ant-Off Ant Guard Bell for Hummingbird Feeders mentioned above.

The worst kind of feeder to keep nectar from dripping is a bottle-style feeder.  If a bottle style feeder is in direct sunlight, the nectar will become warmed up and will drip to the ground.  Ants will for sure find the bird feeders once they find the nectar on the ground!  Do not be discouraged from using a bottle-style feeders in general, they are great for holding other types of bird food: bird seeds and nuts.