feeding hummingbirds
 

The Aztecs thought hummingbirds were the reincarnated souls of warriors. i find this apt as for such a small beautiful bird it's extremely pugnaciouse about it's territory.

We've taken to hanging the feeders out of sight of each other, but that often doesn't work because the little buggers will sit up high enough to have a view of both feeders and defend them both from other hummers.

they become pretty tame after awhile and learn no one will hurt them, have had some perch on my hand while hanging the feeder or fly thru my arms and sip while hanging it.

Anyone else have ecperiences to share? Or info?:angel8:

They are such a delight. I'm a transplant from the east coast and where I grew up they were much smaller than the west coast version. Maybe their shiny feathers were likened to armor, shields and that sort of thing by the Aztecs, too. I had no idea they were especially territorial.

Lemongrass, you must get a lot of them during migration? i see you are located in Tx.
East of the Miss. river we have only one variety, the ruby throat and either it is the species or it's because of the nesting but they will share with no other hummers male or female. So it was nice to learn something about other variety's habits.

silvergirl, they are also very intelligent. One used to sit under our camper awning when it rained, content to keep company with humans. Last week i saw one take refuge in one of those diamond shaped spaces you see in chain link fences. It was the perfect place for protection from another territorial hummer who could not get past the 4 wire sides to deliver a flying blow to the interloper. It sat there calmly while the other one went nuts trying to get at it. LOL.

We sometimes can get lucky to witness these goings on of nature. What a cool thing to see~*

Oh I absolutely ADORE hummingbirds! They are my most favorite kind of bird (I'm also very partial to penguins...so funny to watch, heehee...)

Anyway, I make my own hummingbird nectar from sugar and water (1 cup of sugar and 4 cups water) as I believe it's better for them than buying the stuff with food coloring in it. It is also a lot cheaper to make your own. All you need is the feeder to have red parts on it to help attract the birds. The nectar can be clear and they LOVE it! :D

I went to Ecuador and went Hummingbird Hunting - it wasn't difficult in the reserves, they are attracted to the colour red and so feeders were put out - with bright red openings for them.

One of my favourite pictures ever taken is of a racquet tail hummingbird, complete with white booties.

In tenerife recently, I was confused by a bug I saw - behaving like a hummingbird. It turned out to be a hummingbird hawk moth. Weirdest creature going!