Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

With Oklahoma's hummingbird feeding season in full swing and sizzling summer temperatures looming, biologists with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation's Wildlife Diversity Program offer the following hints for a successful hummingbird season.

1. Fill Feeders Weekly

• • Most commercially available feeders have enough red coloration to attract the small birds; adding red food coloring to the sugar-water solution is not necessary. Melynda Hickman, wildlife diversity biologist for the Wildlife Department, reccomends refilling and cleaning hummingbird feeders on a weekly basis. "A simple four-part water to one-part sugar solution should do the trick."

  • Though hummingbirds will use a variety of feeder styles, those with a wide mouth are easiest to clean.

1. Ease Territorial Disputes

• • Hummingbirds may be our state's smallest birds but they have a lot of attitude, especially at feeders. Hickman says "Adding multiple feeders -- out of sight of one another -- may help cut down some of the territorial disputes and allow more hummingbirds to feed."

2. Prevent Pesky Pests

• • For many hummingbird enthusiasts, ants, wasps and other insects are unwelcome visitors. To deter these "pests," consider feeders with bee or wasp guards. These plastic mesh covers prevent insects from reaching the sugar-water. Water traps can be used to dissuade ants.

The ruby-throated hummingbird is Oklahoma's most common hummingbird species. These birds begin arriving in our state in March and migrate back to Central America by early November. Two white eggs are laid in tiny nests built on a downward sloping tree limb from May to July.