Showing posts with label Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Hummingbird courtship
Have you ever witnessed the courtship ritual of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds? I have seen it described in print and had even seen it on a television show about hummingbirds, but I had never actually witnessed it in Nature. Until this week.
I was sitting on my patio in the late afternoon a couple of days ago, watching the male and female hummingbird who currently share my backyard as they visited feeders and blossoms and chased each other around the yard. Then all at once the chase ended and the female perched while the male went into this weird pendulum-like flight pattern. He would fly high into the air and then drop suddenly toward the ground but before he reached the ground, he made a U-shaped arc and flew high into the air again before dropping toward the earth and doing the whole routine over. While he was doing this, he made a kind of whirring sound. He did this several times, possibly as many as seven or eight - I was too mesmerized to count. I don't know whether the female hummer was impressed, but I certainly was!
I didn't observe the two mating, but I hope the female did accept the the little male and that she will stay and nest in my yard. If she does, she'll be much on her own. Once mating is over, the male considers his family responsibilities done. The female builds the nest, broods the eggs, and feeds and protects the two babies until fledged. Incubation lasts from 11-16 days and the young stay in the nest for another 20-22 days before flying.
Somewhat surprisingly, I think, these hummers can produce multiple broods during the summer. They may have two broods, or occasionally even three.
I know that hummers do nest in my yard but I've never been lucky enough to actually discover a nest while in use. The nests are quite small, of course, and are usually built on a horizontal limb with lots of leafy cover. After seeing that exciting display of courtship behavior, I am certainly going to be on the lookout for one of those tiny nests. Maybe I'll get lucky again.
I was sitting on my patio in the late afternoon a couple of days ago, watching the male and female hummingbird who currently share my backyard as they visited feeders and blossoms and chased each other around the yard. Then all at once the chase ended and the female perched while the male went into this weird pendulum-like flight pattern. He would fly high into the air and then drop suddenly toward the ground but before he reached the ground, he made a U-shaped arc and flew high into the air again before dropping toward the earth and doing the whole routine over. While he was doing this, he made a kind of whirring sound. He did this several times, possibly as many as seven or eight - I was too mesmerized to count. I don't know whether the female hummer was impressed, but I certainly was!
I didn't observe the two mating, but I hope the female did accept the the little male and that she will stay and nest in my yard. If she does, she'll be much on her own. Once mating is over, the male considers his family responsibilities done. The female builds the nest, broods the eggs, and feeds and protects the two babies until fledged. Incubation lasts from 11-16 days and the young stay in the nest for another 20-22 days before flying.
Somewhat surprisingly, I think, these hummers can produce multiple broods during the summer. They may have two broods, or occasionally even three.
I know that hummers do nest in my yard but I've never been lucky enough to actually discover a nest while in use. The nests are quite small, of course, and are usually built on a horizontal limb with lots of leafy cover. After seeing that exciting display of courtship behavior, I am certainly going to be on the lookout for one of those tiny nests. Maybe I'll get lucky again.
Friday, March 15, 2013
The Ruby-throats arrive!
While working in my backyard today, I saw my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the year, an adult male.
Typically, the adult males are the first to arrive in the spring and they seldom hang around for more than a few days. Then they are on the move again, headed farther north to their breeding grounds. Later the females and young birds will arrive and, if we are lucky as we have been in recent years, one of those females will choose to stay with us through the summer and raise her family here.
But, for now, at least one adult male Ruby-throat has arrived, much to the consternation of the adult female Rufous who is still in the yard. There have already been some furious chases today!
The young male Rufous that spent the winter here may have moved on. I haven't actually seen him for a few days now. I would expect the adult female to head northwest soon, also. But there will still be plenty of hummingbird activity in the yard for weeks to come, now that the Ruby-throats are passing through.
Typically, the adult males are the first to arrive in the spring and they seldom hang around for more than a few days. Then they are on the move again, headed farther north to their breeding grounds. Later the females and young birds will arrive and, if we are lucky as we have been in recent years, one of those females will choose to stay with us through the summer and raise her family here.
But, for now, at least one adult male Ruby-throat has arrived, much to the consternation of the adult female Rufous who is still in the yard. There have already been some furious chases today!
The young male Rufous that spent the winter here may have moved on. I haven't actually seen him for a few days now. I would expect the adult female to head northwest soon, also. But there will still be plenty of hummingbird activity in the yard for weeks to come, now that the Ruby-throats are passing through.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Return of the Rufous
As I've reported here over the last two or three weeks, the hummingbird activity in my yard has been frantic. There have been several Ruby-throated Hummingbirds passing through, but I really had not had much of a chance to get out and observe the action. Until today.
Guess what I found? It's not just RTHs. I've got Rufous Hummingbirds, too!
I'd had a couple of the little birds spend the season with me last winter and I was certainly hoping they would return, but I never expected them this early. As soon as I realized they were here, I went and grabbed my camera and tried to record their presence.
An adult male was cooperative enough to sit still on his favorite perch for a while as I snapped away.
His head was constantly swiveling as he responded to the presence of other hummers in the area.
He was ready to take off at a moment's notice to defend his space.
No movement escaped his notice!
"Who's that over there? Is she a threat?"
An adult female was sitting just a couple of feet away from him on another bare twig.
She, too, was keeping a beady eye on all those other hummer interlopers.
Left, right, left, right - that little head was constantly in motion.
Look at those tiny, tiny feet. These birds never cease to amaze me. How can something so small be so perfectly a bird? How can they even be in the same family as Whooping Cranes or Bald Eagles?
I took my nectar feeders down and scrubbed them and refilled them and a little later I was rewarded by seeing one of the adult males visiting one of them.
Hmmm...I wonder if there might be other hummer species in my yard that I haven't seen yet?
Guess what I found? It's not just RTHs. I've got Rufous Hummingbirds, too!
I'd had a couple of the little birds spend the season with me last winter and I was certainly hoping they would return, but I never expected them this early. As soon as I realized they were here, I went and grabbed my camera and tried to record their presence.
I took my nectar feeders down and scrubbed them and refilled them and a little later I was rewarded by seeing one of the adult males visiting one of them.
Hmmm...I wonder if there might be other hummer species in my yard that I haven't seen yet?
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
A Ruby-throat checks in
I've been expecting it for days and today it finally happened. The first male Ruby-throated Hummingbird turned up in my backyard.
Okay, I cannot tell a lie. This is not actually the bird I saw today but a visitor from last year. I didn't have a camera in my hand when I saw the bird today. But he looked just like this!
I was on one of my frequent breaks from pruning the thorny hedge along my back fence, and, seated in my favorite chair, I was gazing at my little redbud tree that is in full bloom just now, when the little bird darted in to visit the feeder hanging from one of the tree's limbs. He took a good long drink and then flew away to a limb to preen. After a bit, he came back for seconds. While he was visiting that feeder, I noticed that the Rufous Hummingbird that has spent the winter here was visiting her favorite feeder which is hung next to a crape myrtle tree about 25 feet away from the redbud. I didn't witness any hummingbird disputes while I was watching. Each bird seemed content with its own feeder. Since I have confirmation that the Ruby-throats have arrived now, I may hang my third feeder in the front yard.
I checked the migration map for the Ruby-throats and saw that there are sightings reported in six southern states now. I also checked back over my own eBird records, because I couldn't remember ever having seen a Ruby-throat quite this early. Sure enough - March 13 is my earliest yard record for the bird. My previous earliest record was March 17, 2006.
I was on one of my frequent breaks from pruning the thorny hedge along my back fence, and, seated in my favorite chair, I was gazing at my little redbud tree that is in full bloom just now, when the little bird darted in to visit the feeder hanging from one of the tree's limbs. He took a good long drink and then flew away to a limb to preen. After a bit, he came back for seconds. While he was visiting that feeder, I noticed that the Rufous Hummingbird that has spent the winter here was visiting her favorite feeder which is hung next to a crape myrtle tree about 25 feet away from the redbud. I didn't witness any hummingbird disputes while I was watching. Each bird seemed content with its own feeder. Since I have confirmation that the Ruby-throats have arrived now, I may hang my third feeder in the front yard.
I checked the migration map for the Ruby-throats and saw that there are sightings reported in six southern states now. I also checked back over my own eBird records, because I couldn't remember ever having seen a Ruby-throat quite this early. Sure enough - March 13 is my earliest yard record for the bird. My previous earliest record was March 17, 2006.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
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