If you go

Green Valley Farmer’s Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday at the Green Valley Village, Esperanza Boulevard and La Canada Drive.

Farmer’s Market

A better mousetrap,

er, bird feeder

By Annette Kelly

Special to the Green Valley News

We all love hummingbirds. Their aerial acrobatics, speed and beauty delight us. While we watch them from our windows or patios, others are more involved. One of these is Nancy Adams, zoologist with Tucson’s Sonoran Desert Museum. On a daily basis she works with these tiny specimens, feeding and caring for them at the museum’s hummingbird enclosure.

When you go to the Green Valley Farmer’s Market, you may recognize Nancy as the patient zookeeper who answered your questions about these tiniest of birds. Each of her three most frequently asked questions has to do with feeding hummingbirds: what to feed them, what type of feeder is best, how to deter nectar thieves.

The first answer is simple and inexpensive. To feed your visiting hummingbirds Nancy says, “No honey — it can cause botulism. No syrup, no premade nectars. Just use sugar and water in a ratio of 1:4, that is equivalent to flower nectar range.”

Unable to purchase the ideal feeder, Nancy created her own and sells them through her business, Copper Hummingbird.

“I designed the type of feeder I wanted to work with every day,” she says. “It’s virtually indestructible, really easy to clean, really easy to fill and they don’t attract bees. I was thrilled when they came out pretty too!”

Her designs are classically simple. The hangars are made from copper; she provides two plastic cups with red lids as the nectar receptacles (one to use one to remove and clean, saving time and effort on refills). One of her nectar feeders hangs; the other is on a stake for ground or flower pot applications.

The designs keep pests away. Each nectar feeder is equipped with an “ant moat” to fill with water as a physical barrier. The hanging model was designed to thwart perching woodpeckers, greatly reducing their threat to the nectar and potential damage to the feeder. The closed top and tiny hole leave no attraction for bees.

In addition to the nectar feeders, Nancy creates fruit and vegetable hangers. She displays these with a piece of corn and an apple, cautioning buyers to avoid citrus, which could react with the copper.

“The corn and apple may end up attracting fruit flies,” Nancy admits with a smile,” but that’s a good thing. Although the bulk of the hummer’s diet is nectar, the bulk of their nutrition comes from small flying insects like gnats and fruit flies. So when you see your hummingbirds darting around the fruit and vegetables, it’s the tiny fruit flies they’re after.”

Nancy’s design really works.

“My feeders are used at the Desert Museum, Living Desert in Palm Springs and at San Diego Zoo’s Bird House. In San Diego, this design allows them to eliminate one third of the feedings, saving them literally thousands of dollars in food each year. That’s huge,” says Nancy.

We’re able to purchase these practical and beautiful feeders here at our own market starting at just $5 or the museum gift shop or online at www.esty.com (and search copperhummingbird).

Correction

A paragraph in last week’s Farmer’s Market story on Carol Bushman should have read: She’s worried about the inclusion of propylene glycol, sulfates and parabens (not paraffin) as ingredients, especially in shampoos, conditioners and lotions for the face and body.