Is It Safe?
Yes!
Nectar Fortress™ is absolutely safe for hummingbirds. It is made almost entirely of a fatty acid that birds naturally secrete to preen
and condition their feathers.
Wild bird safety and health is critical to us at Sapphire Labs, and it is the primary reason for designing our products. We take great pride in creating products that have protected wild birds for over 20 years.
Please see below for a more detailed look at why Nectar Fortress is undeniably safe for hummingbirds.
Safety Key Points:
- Nectar Fortress is not sticky, tacky, or adhesive in any way.
- It is made completely from food-based materials.
- It does NOT contain petroleum products such as oil, wax, or grease.
- It is made almost entirely of a fatty acid that birds naturally secrete to preen and condition their feathers, so it is designed to be inherently safe and compatible with bird physiology.
Safety Details:
Cinnamon oil, the ant-repelling ingredient of Nectar Fortress, is used at such a low level that it is not a concern as an irritant.
Nectar Fortress is also made with oleic acid, called Omega-9, which is one of the major fatty acids secreted from a bird’s uropygial (preening) gland. It is the secretion from this gland that birds use for preening and maintaining their feathers. Other components in preening secretion are waxes and wax-alcohols, but fatty acids are a major component of the preening secretion that birds use.
One well-studied example of preening gland composition from the research paper “Physiological and Biochemical Aspects of the Avian Uropygial Gland” shows: “The fatty acid composition of the lipids extracted from the gland secretion consisted of C14 to C20 chains, most of which were unsaturated, with a prevalence of oleic acid….”
Saliba, A. and Montali D., Braz. J. Bio. (2009) 69 (2) 427-446
In other words, if a bird were to accidentally come into contact with the product, it is a substance common in preen oil that birds already use to naturally preen and condition their feathers.
Additionally, Nectar Fortress is not easily transferred by contact once established since, after application and exposure to the elements, it becomes firm and is not easily disturbed. It also takes a very small amount of the product to be effective – less than 1/8th of a teaspoon.
Nectar Fortress™ has a 10 year safety track record. The product has been sold in stores and used by thousands of customers for 10 years, with no reported harm to hummingbirds.
Nectar Fortress was designed to be inherently safe for hummingbirds, while also solving a common problem for them and their feeders. We love hummingbirds just like you, and would never market a product that is a risk to them.