09/22/2026
🩷 Hummingbird Education: Candida (Thrush)
Hummingbirds are incredibly delicate, and one illness wildlife rehabilitators sometimes see is candidiasis, commonly called thrush.
Candida is a type of yeast. These organisms can be found naturally in the environment, but under the right circumstances they can overgrow and cause illness—particularly in birds that are very young, stressed, injured, malnourished, or otherwise compromised.
🦠 How can hummingbirds be exposed?
There are several possible sources:
• Dirty hummingbird feeders
• Old or spoiled nectar
• Nectar that has begun to ferment
• Mold and microorganisms growing in feeder ports, cracks, or hard-to-clean areas
• Contaminated surfaces around feeding areas
• Weakened immune system caused by stress, injury, illness, or poor nutrition.
Warm weather makes nectar spoil much faster, which is why feeder maintenance becomes especially important during the summer.
🧼 YOU CAN HELP PREVENT PROBLEMS!
If you feed hummingbirds, please:
❤️ Change the nectar frequently. Don't wait until it looks cloudy or moldy.
❤️ Clean the feeder between refills. Don't simply add fresh nectar on top of what's already there.
❤️ Clean the tiny feeding ports too. Mold and residue can hide in places that aren't immediately obvious.
❤️ Change nectar MORE frequently during hot weather. Heat speeds up spoilage and fermentation.
All About Birds +1
❤️ Use the proper recipe:
4 parts water + 1 part plain white granulated sugar.
❤️ NO honey. NO artificial sweeteners. NO red food coloring. The red should come from the feeder—not the nectar.
❤️ Consider smaller feeders if you don't have many hummingbirds visiting. There's no reason to put out a huge amount of nectar that will sit for days.
❤️ Provide natural food sources too. Native flowering plants provide natural nectar as well as access to the tiny insects hummingbirds need for protein.
What if you see a sick hummingbird?
A hummingbird with white material in its mouth, difficulty swallowing, weakness, inability to feed, or other signs of illness needs professional help.
And remember: white material in the mouth does NOT automatically mean Candida. Several problems can produce similar-looking signs, so diagnosis should be left to an experienced wildlife rehabilitator or veterinarian.
Please don't try to treat a wild hummingbird yourself or force-feed it sugar water. Hummingbirds have extremely high metabolic demands, and improper feeding can cause serious injury or death. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible.
Sometimes the smallest things we do—cleaning a feeder, changing nectar, or recognizing that a bird needs help—can make a HUGE difference. 🩷🐦
Photo from a kind finder who found this poor bird in distress.
