An "In Your Face" Hummingbird

[CameronCat]

Boy, I envy you guys. We do have hummingbirds here in eastern PA, but they're infrequently seen, at least in my poorly kept gardens. Every summer I get a couple glimpses of them around the day lilies, and several years ago one popped right in front of me (as others have experienced) while we were walking out to the car just at dusk. I think he was looking at himself in my sunglasses. By the time I figured out what was happening, it was gone. Sigh.

/JT

[Tobus]

Sounds like a Rufous Hummingbird. They have that kind of metallic high-pitched wing sound. We have lots of them now at the farm. We also have the smaller Calliope Hummingbird, which although smaller has a deeper wing sound with no whistling.

Rufous hummers will do this climb-and-dive loop routine for a mating dance, with a little butt-wiggle at the bottom. You get this "WEEEeee--oooo-chee-chee-chee-chee" sound from that, then they'll do that side to side hover and you hear "cheem-cheem-cheem..."

OK, the first person to laugh at my sound effects renditions gets a whack...

I'm laughing, but only because you nailed it perfectly! That's exactly what it sounds like.

A lot of the hummingbirds I see are sort of plain colored, but there are a few that are an iridescent greenish yellow or iridescent purple on their chests. I've seen some with a bright red band around their necks too. I have no idea what type they are, but they sure are pretty when they stay still long enough to get a look at.

It's fun to watch them chase each other through the trees. They are like little tiny fighter jets in a 'dogfight', complete with daredevil moves. I often wonder if hummingbirds experience fun or enjoyment. You'd think they have to. What a thrill that would be, to fly like they do.

[Bugbear]

Oops, I had the recordings of the hummingbirds mixed up. I'll have to go over them some more, but it is not the broadtail that I remember hearing in my neighbor's mulberry tree.

I listened to the raven recordings, then the bird that likes my palm tree, and to some of the related bird recordings. I'm almost sure that is a raven up there, and I am now absolutely sure it is not a crow.

There is at least one other raven in the neighborhood, if that is what that bird really is. I understand, from my reading, they do live in the area.

[Jock Scot]

Wow Ted, what an experience! We don't get humming birds in the wild in the U K, but in places, we get plenty of Ravens.

[Bugbear]

Wow Ted, what an experience! We don't get humming birds in the wild in the U K, but in places, we get plenty of Ravens.

That raven has been hanging out up there for a couple of years, I just didn't know which kind of bird he was. He's flown right over my head a couple of times and I could tell he was a large bird.


On the hummingbirds, I think I will put several red hibiscus plants in hanging containers, keep them up around chest level. That would be good along the side of my porch and so on. Other, shorter flowers could be grown that way, as well.

I want to put more of the native wildflowers that they like out in the ground, so they can start reseeding themselves. Luckly many of them are also butterfly favorites.

[MacBean]

Hummingbirds: ever see one that had been feeding on fermented flower nectar? They try to fly but keep falling sideways to the ground...sort of like watching a drunk cowboy trying to get on his horse but falling off the other side.

Crow or Raven (in Phoneix I think): I looked it up and was surprised to find there is only one species of Crow, but two species of Raven out there (Common and Chihuahan). Does your bird yap or caw?

[Jerry]

We are just getting ready to put out our Hummingbird feeders for the summer. We usually keep 3 to 5 of them full of Hummingbird feed, because the birds seem to be somewhat territorial. They will sit and guard the feeder that they like even if they arent feeding. If another bird comes along, the one guarding it will chase it. But, as soon as the guardian is gone after the first one, another comes by and eats. I have actually been sitting in the den watching TV and had one flutter at the window and peck at the glass when the feeder was empty.

[Lyle1]

We had hummingbirds at our feeder last year, and I put out two feeders last weekend. I saw the first hummingbird, this morning. The feeders are outside of our screened porch (a very nice feature in the south), and the cats are fascinated by the hummingbirds.

The new feeder has a red glass reservoir, and the hummingbird choose that one over the less colorful one.

[Duncanofcolorado]

Here is my hummingbird story. When I was living in Virginia I was working in my garage with the garage door open. I kept hearing a noise but couldn't place it. Finally I just couldn't take it anymore so I started looking around and eventually looked above the open garage door and saw a hummingbird flying up to the ceiling and back down onto the garage door. He couldn't figure out how to fly out. Eventually he got so tired he just sat on the garage door. I decided to try to cup my hands around him and release him outside of the garage. I was suprised when he let me scoop him up and climb down the ladder and walk out of the garage all the while keeping my 2 hands open so as not to injure the little guy. He must have been pretty exhausted because he wouldn't fly away. He just sat in my hands and looked at me. I had time enough to call my wife over and look at him before he eventually flapped his wings and took off. The whole time it didn't even feel like I had anything in my hands.

[Bugbear]

I have recordings of both the Common and Chihuahan ravens,MacBean. I would call what the one in my tree does, "cawing," and it sounds almost exactly like The Common raven, though I only have the two samples. The crow recording is much higher pitched and quite different. I have found no other bird recordings that sound like the one in my tree, so I'm guessing that is it.

I seem to recall reading that hummingbirds use a large amount of their energy during flight, so have to feed quite often to keep going if they're burning flower sugar. I have a MIT book on flight that puts it all in equations, but that's pretty boring stuff.