[birding] Humming Bird Feeding Misinformation?

[Matthew]

Hi Birders,

In the most recent issue of WildBird Magazine (May/June 2010) there is an 
article about overwintering hummingbirds that states "Switching to a 
sugar/water ratio of one parts sugar to three parts water by early 
September, when high-risk birds might be passing through, will help visitors 
put on fat more efficiently while still providing essential water."  The 
article then goes on to state that "The higher sugar content lowers the 
solution's freezing temperature without making it too syrupy for the 
hummingbirds to drink, so it's the perfect recipe for winter feeding, too." 
After reading the article I remembered that about a year ago there was a 
discussion on OBOL about the proper ratio of sugar to water.  As I recall 
someone stated that a ration of sugar to water greater than 1 to 4 
dehydrated hummingbirds.  If the later statement is true then increasing the 
sugar to water ratio is more harmful then helpful especially during the 
winter when other water supply may be or are frozen (note this article 
appears to be geared more to the US east of the Rocky Mountains and makes 
absolutely no mention of Anna's Hummingbirds).  Does anybody out there have 
more information on this subject?  I did a little bit of searching online 
but I couldn't come up with anything concrete.

Matthew Schneider
Silverton, Oregon