Songbirds – Attracted to Hummingbird Feeders

Q: What songbirds would be attracted to the nectar of a hummingbird feeder? I see one or two each day perched on my feeder, dipping their beaks into the feeding holes.

A: Naturalist Charles Seabrook says many songbirds have a sweet tooth. In Georgia, they include various woodpeckers, flickers, chickadees, wrens, catbirds, goldfinches, and orchard orioles. House finches are especially notorious for competing with hummingbirds at nectar feeders. The problem for songbirds, though, is that they don’t have long hummingbird-like bills adapted for nectar-feeding. Still, as you’ve observed, the songbirds try and sometimes they succeed.