ST. LOUIS – FOX 2 has seen a few sightings of hummingbirds in Missouri and Illinois as spring returns and the weather starts to warm.

“The first Hummingbirds are called ‘Scouts’—hummingbird scout’s—so they’re scouting out areas of possible food sources and the Scouts are just now starting to show up south of us,” said Steve Krieger of O.K. Hatchery Feed & Garden Store, Inc.

They signal food source environments as they return from their long winter stay in Mexico.

You’ll have an easier time attracting hummingbirds by using a feeder as well as planting their favorite flowers.

“Anything that has a tubular shape to it usually,” Krieger said. “There is actually a flower called Asclepias; that’s the botanical name. It’s also called, commonly, butterfly flowers.”

And for the hummingbird feeder.

“Sugar water… what it is is one part sugar to 4 part water and they usually recommend you boil it for 5 min just to kill anything bad in it,” Krieger said.

He also recommends not filling the feeder to the full line just yet, as only the Scouts are in range now. 

Keeping your feeder clean is highly important for the safety and health of hummingbirds.

“The nectar, which is the sugar water, can get rancid or fungus, so you have to change it at least once a week, if not, that’s in the cooler weather,” Krieger said. “When it gets to be hotter, you have to do it every two or three days because it can hurt them if it gets bad. If it has a fungus in it, they get a disease that eats their tongue away, and they die.”

O.K. Hatchery keeps Hummingbird Feeders on the shelves, some of which are easily accessible for cleaning.