Here’s how to help them instead.

Hummingbirds run on sugar.

The fuel powers their tiny, furious bodies and super-fast wings, which beat as many as 80 to 90 times per second. And luckily for them, they don’t seem to get diabetes, even though they have extremely high blood glucose levels.

In the wild, hummingbirds, the smallest birds in the world, get their sugar from nectar-filled flowers, such as honeysuckle, lilies, and bee balm. But following the sweeping destruction of native prairies, forests, and wetlands over the last century, these fluttering jewels have had a more difficult time finding their glucose fix.

While humans are responsible for that loss, some wildlife lovers are also trying to help hummingbirds by installing feeders. Hummingbird feeders — containers, often red and plastic, filled with sugar water — provide a supplementary source of nectar for hummingbirds, especially during fall and spring migration when the birds are traveling long distances. Research shows that feeders may increase the number of hummingbirds locally, and birds tend to visit them more when there are fewer flowers in bloom.

So on the whole, feeders are good. They also provide an easy way for people to connect with wildlife.

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