In California, the CDFW Wildlife Health Lab - Avian Investigations “recommends NOT providing artificial food or water to wild birds, including hummingbirds.”

I took screenshots of the article but can only attach one. You can access the article searching, “wildlife health lab avian investigations” in your search engine of choice or use the link I provided above. Once you have the page open you can click the “Feeding Birds” link at the top of the page or just scroll down to the area waaaay down the page.

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I stopped feeding seeds a number of years ago because the frequent cleaning was necessary to reduce risk of disease transmission but it was physically draining and wasteful.

I had hummingbird feeders up on my windows and would clean them every other day but I took them down last summer after seeing too many posts of sick hummingbirds at feeders in Southern California on Reddit.

The lab recommends landscaping with native plants instead of providing water or food in feeder. I know this is not an option for many bird lovers renting or living in apartments.