Fun With Hummingbirds

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been putting on quite a show this afternoon following another heavy thunderstorm that moved though the area. At least 8-10 are fighting over the six feeders. I've only seen 3 males with the rest of the crew made up of females and immatures.

A pair of immature males has been the most entertaining. One will be on the feeder when it is dive-bombed by the other and they begin this midair joust were they face off and fly about 20 to 30 feet straight up. Sometimes they will slowly descend and repeat the score. Other times they come tumbling down in the grasp of one another, not letting lose of each other until they almost hit the ground. I have noticed that a couple of the feeders have seen a changing of the guard in the last few days. The feeder outside my computer room window is presently owned by a immature male. It was the domain of an adult male (no way to tell if it was the same one) for the last several months.

It's amazing how much fun you can have with some water and a couple of pounds of sugar!

The Hummingbirds Have Arrived

On March 24, 2007 a couple of male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds made their first appearance of the Spring. Just as Ruby-throated Hummingbirds do they began to squabble and fight over the 10 feeders I have up. I could put up 20 feeders but just like kids it would only serve to give them more to fight over. Of course their feisty nature is one of the thing I like about Ruby-throats. Something about hummingbirds just amazes me. These tiniest of creatures migrate thousands of miles twice a year, fly over two continents, not to mention the Gulf of Mexico, and arrive back in our yards almost to the day year after year! Most of us would never make the trip or get lost and bosses only wish they could find employees so dedicated and timely.

Well there is a break in the storms so I'm going outside to watch the action!