The best hummingbird feeders with perches

How we judged these

We have not tested these feeders. What we did instead: took each maker’s published description of its perch, checked it against retailer listings, read what the major bird organizations say about how hummingbirds actually use perches, and weighted the criteria below. Every figure is cited at the foot of the page — this is what we do instead of testing.

1. Does the perch put the bird where you can see it? A perch that parks the bird behind the lid defeats the point of watching.
2. Is there a perch at every port, or only some? On a busy feeder that decides whether birds can share.
3. Can you clean behind it? A perch is one more surface for sugar residue. Integrated perches that come off with the lid, or perches that detach, are the ones that get washed.
4. Does it detach at all? Worth something on its own, for the reasons in the guarding section.
5. Everything else this site scores — cleaning access above all, then capacity, drips and insects. A good perch on a bad feeder is still a bad feeder.

Why the perch matters to the bird

Hovering is spectacular and it is expensive. A hummingbird at a perch-less feeder holds itself in the air for the whole drink, and it is refueling precisely because its reserves are low. Cornell’s Bird Academy notes that hummingbirds spend about 75 percent of their day perching to conserve energy, and that their leg anatomy is specialized for perching — these are birds built to sit, not to walk, and certainly not to hover for longer than they must.

That matters most first thing in the morning. Many hummingbirds pass cold nights in torpor, a drastic lowering of body temperature and heart rate, and rewarming costs energy before the first meal of the day. A bird arriving at dawn with almost nothing in reserve is the bird a perch helps most.

The manufacturer of our top pick makes the same argument from the design side: Aspects describes its HighView perch as inviting hummingbirds to rest comfortably as they drink from the feeding ports while also offering an unobstructed view. That second half is why it is our pick rather than just a good one.

The smallest feeder Aspects puts a HighView perch on is the 4 oz HummBlossom, which is a good second feeder for a quiet corner — reviewed here.

The honest argument against perches

You will find pages claiming that the major bird organizations advise against perches on feeders, on the grounds that a perch gives a dominant bird somewhere to sit and guard. We went looking for that guidance in Cornell’s and Audubon’s own published material and did not find it — Cornell’s FeederWatch guidance on hummingbird feeders, for instance, talks about cleaning, nectar and choosing a feeder that is easy to take apart, and says nothing about perches either way. We are not going to attribute a position to an organization that we could not verify it holds.

The underlying concern is real, though, so it deserves a straight answer. Hummingbirds are aggressive at feeders — Audubon quotes a researcher putting it as: “They need to feed really regularly. In short, they don’t really want to take any crap from anyone else.” And Cornell’s Ruby-throated Hummingbird life history describes the mechanism exactly: when not feeding, hummingbirds perch nearby, then launch themselves after any other hummingbirds that appear.

Read that last sentence carefully, because it is the whole answer. The guarding bird perches nearby — on a branch, a wire, a fence — not on the feeder. Taking the perch off the feeder does not take away its lookout. What actually reduces the fighting is removing the line of sight: a second feeder placed where the first cannot be seen from it. We explain that on how many hummingbird feeders you need, and it works with perches or without them.

So our position, stated plainly: keep the perch, because it helps the bird that is drinking. Solve guarding with placement, because that is where guarding actually comes from.

1. Aspects HummZinger HighView — best perch overall

Aspects item 429: 12 oz, four ports, UV-stabilized polycarbonate, a built-in ant moat, raised flowers that divert rain, hang or post mount, a lifetime guarantee, and the HighView perch — an integrated wraparound perch raised so the bird sits at the level of the ports and faces outward.

The perch is the reason it leads this page rather than merely appearing on it. On many feeders the perch sits below the lid so a drinking bird tucks under it and you see a tail. The HighView arrangement is the opposite, which is what Aspects means by an unobstructed view. It also comes off with the lid, so cleaning behind it is part of the ordinary two-piece wash rather than an extra job.

Honest cons: 12 oz and four ports is small for a busy yard; the perch does not detach, so if you specifically want a perch-free feeder this is not it; polycarbonate clouds over several seasons; and no bee-guard tips are fitted — that is the Ultra, which shares the same perch. Full write-up: the HighView review.

2. More Birds Ruby — most perches on a small feeder

A 10 oz glass bottle feeder with four bee-guard ports, five integrated perches, a built-in ant moat on top and a detachable flat base, about 8.75 inches tall. Perky-Pet, which makes it, describes an integrated perch design that optimizes the feeding angle.

Five perches on a feeder this size is generous — more perches than ports — and it means birds can settle rather than jostle. Glass also means the reservoir will not cloud the way polycarbonate does, so the visual check stays honest.

Honest cons: it is an inverted bottle, so it can drip as trapped air warms, and drips are how insect problems start. Glass breaks, which rules it out on an exposed hook in wind. Perky-Pet specifies a 50/50 vinegar-and-water soak and says not to use a dishwasher. And stock is patchy — when we checked, Amazon had it while several specialist retailers did not. Full write-up: the More Birds Ruby review.

3. Perky-Pet 217 — best if you want the perch to come off

Eight ounces, three tapered ports, three detachable perches, shatter-resistant plastic, 8.4 x 5.5 x 3.5 inches, mounted with a suction cup or hung from a nail. Perky-Pet states it comes apart completely, perches included.

Detachable perches earn a place on this page for two reasons. They wash properly, because you can get at every side of them. And they give you the choice: if you decide, for whatever reason, that you want a perch-free feeder, you can have one without buying another feeder. On a window, where the bird is two feet from your face, being able to change your mind costs nothing.

Honest cons: suction cups let go in heat and cold — clean the glass with rubbing alcohol first and re-check after the first hot week. Eight ounces is a second-feeder size, not a main one. It is a bottle-style reservoir, so it is not immune to dripping. And it is plastic. More in the window feeder roundup.

4. First Nature 3051 — best budget feeder with a perch

Sixteen ounces, ten ports, a wide-mouth jar reservoir and a two-part base that twists apart. The base carries a circular perch running around all ten ports, and First Nature states the feeder is manufactured in America from a durable polymer.

A continuous perch around ten ports is unusual at any price and remarkable at this one: every port has a place to sit, which is what lets a busy feeder host more than one bird at once. The wide mouth takes a standard bottle brush and the base splits so you can reach the underside of the ports.

Honest cons: it is an inverted bottle, so it can drip as the air above the nectar warms; it is explicitly not dishwasher safe and must not meet scalding water; 16 oz is more than most yards should fill — fill it part way; and the perch is molded into the base, so there is no removing it. Full write-up: the 3051 review.

5. Aspects HummZinger Excel — best perch for a busy yard

Aspects item 143: 16 oz, six ports, built-in ant moat, hang or post mount, lifetime guarantee, and what Aspects describes as an integrated wrap-around perch that encourages the birds to sit and stay awhile.

It is the HighView’s perch on a wider dish with two more ports, and the combination matters: six seats around a bigger table is the arrangement most likely to let more than one bird actually sit and drink at the same time. The wash is the same two-piece routine.

Honest cons: 16 oz spoils as fast as 12, so the extra capacity is not permission to clean less often; it is physically wider; the perch does not detach; and no Nectar-Guard tips as standard. Full write-up: the Excel review, and the two Aspects sizes are compared directly in HighView vs Excel.

Cleaning a perch

A perch is one more surface where sugar water dries, and on a bottle feeder it usually sits right below the ports, exactly where drips land. It needs the same wash as the rest of the feeder, every three to five days in moderate weather and daily in heat.

The three designs on this page clean differently. Integrated wraparound perches on the Aspects saucers come off with the lid, so you wash them as part of the dish. Detachable perches on the Perky-Pet come off entirely. A molded perch on a bottle-feeder base, like the First Nature’s, is washed with the base — reachable, but it is the one to get a brush around deliberately. Cadence on how often to clean a hummingbird feeder; method on how to clean one.

Give them somewhere else to sit too

The perch on the feeder is for drinking. Hummingbirds also want a lookout — a thin bare twig or wire within sight of the feeder, high enough to survey from — and if your yard has none, they will use the feeder for both jobs, which is when the guarding gets worst.

You can buy that lookout as an object if you would rather it looked deliberate, and a branded one costs about fifteen dollars — the best hummingbird swings, including the honest case for using a bare branch instead.

A bare branch left on a nearby shrub, or a feeder hung within about ten feet of cover, gives the resident bird its lookout away from the ports. That is part of where to hang a hummingbird feeder, and combined with a second feeder out of sight it does more for peace at the ports than any perch decision.