Butterfly Feeders

They only come for the food

The best way to attract anything to your yard is, of course, to put out food for it. This applies to all animals you'd like to see prowling your lawn, from bats to birds. Butterflies will be primarily attracted to the food sources you provide in your yard, be they natural plants or a butterfly feeder. If you don't have the room or the inclination to grow a big wildlife garden or you live in a place where you don't have a yard, a butterfly feeder full of nectar will bring the sound of fluttering wings to your space quickly.

Butterfly feeders are essentially glass or plastic feeders that look very much like hummingbird feeders or oriole feeders. They hold butterfly nectar, which is nine parts water to one part sugar, and incorporate feeding ports that allow the butterflies to drink the nectar and be nourished. Butterfly feeders can be simply functional or decorative, depending on your own taste. As long as the feeder has a place for butterflies to land and drink, it will work for feeding the insects. You will also need to have some color, preferably yellow, purple, red or green, on the feeder because butterflies find their food by sight.

Hang your feeder in a relatively sunny spot - butterflies are cold-blooded and need to stay in the sunlight for optimal flight. Make sure you keep the feeder full and the nectar fresh. If the nectar turns cloudy, it's spoiled and needs changing. Your butterfly feeder, and similarly your hummingbird and oriole feeders, may attract other species of birds and animals like bats and bluebirds. If you find that your feeders are being drained by these other animals, you may want to consider taking them in at night, when butterflies aren't out.

Like orioles, butterflies also appreciate fruit, and you can put out oranges, grapes and bananas for them to feed on. When feeding butterflies fruit, it helps if the fruit is overripe because the nectar is sweeter and more easily sucked out. Butterflies will also eat spoiling leaves, but they can find these naturally. Simply put fruit into the freezer and then defrost before giving it to the butterflies, and watch them flock for the delicious feast.