Ruby Throated Hummingbird = Crabby Little Bird!

Wow...hummer attack...I hope it doesn't hurt too much :)

I guess I shouldn't be suprised, I saw two in my yard smack together and actually heard the sound! They both kept flying fast afterwards though.

This message was edited Sep 1, 2005 9:40 AM

Me too! I have 2 feeders on the umbrella over my chair (the garden throne) and the territorial hummer came down and body slammed the other one. Smack! ----ouch.

I am seeing more body slams lately, looks like I am getting more hummers, maybe due to migrations?

I also have a throne between 2 feeders....I love the hear the sound of the wings :)

I've had a orange throated hummingbird using a feeder for several days recently.I think it is a ruby throated hummingbird but I've never seen this kind of distinct color variance before. At any angle in the sun or shade this bird has an orange not red neck!!! Any birders out there that can help me figure out why the neck is orangish?

cuckoo

cuckoo~

Are you sure? The red on mine is RED.

I saw one for a couple weeks in August with a throat that was more orange than red. He's gone now. Mostly seeing immature males and females only. Becky

bec~

Guess the immature ones need more training before they're ready for the long flight South.

Cuckoo - I live in St. Louis. I usually have the ruby throated birds. Few days ago, I saw one that had a almost copper colored throat. It was very unusual. For a moment - I thought it was just the light - but it wasn't. I saw it twice and then it was gone. It was really beautiful. I have 3 feeders and also have onry hummers. I have them placed so the guards can't see each other. I have about 6 hummers who visit. My first was early this summer - buzzing outside my window, I thought it was a bug until I figured out it was a hummingbird. Now I am in love with them.

WOW.

Maybe it's the food -- or something.

I know seeing a orange throated hummingbird seems absurd but it consistently fed at my feeder late this summer alongside other ruby(red throats) throated hummingbirds! I tried to look at it from all angles thinking that their iridescent colors, bright sunshine, and our doubleglass kitchen window was playing tricks on me. It truly had an orange neck and not red. Any birders out there that can share some light on this different than normal colored bird?

cuckoo

I'll keep watching, to find out.

It's cooler now and I think the hummingbirds are south in warmer climates. I will take down my feeders very soon since no late migrants have been seen at my feeders recently.

cuckoo

The color on the hummers throat is not a fixed color. It is actually the reflection of light from tiny platelets in the feathers. The thickness, amount of air contained in the the tiny bubbles within these platelets, and the angle of the light determines the color observed. Kind of like oil on water. Oil doesn't have the iridescent colors, it is the way the light shines on it that makes the colors....

I suggest leaving at least one feeder up in the winter (keep it clean) for the hummers that somehow wander in from the west at migration time. Rufous and black-chinned are two common "wanderers". Buff bellied has been seen too.

Oh gracious! I didn't realize this was an old thread. So sorry!

an oldie but a goodie, LOL! I think it's high time it was bumped up!

That question about a "yellow throated" hummer came up recently on another thread... sounded as if it wasn't just a question of the light etc, just a particular bird whose throat always looked gold rather than red... curious.

I am so glad you bumped this thread. I am just sitting here in rib-hurting laughter! My hummers actually 'sword-fight' and I have had to break up some fights to keep them from killing each other! Buying more shepard' s hooks and adding feeders about 15 ft away have given the girls at chance to fuel-up while the two bullies run ragged.
Deborah

I've seen females that are just as territorial about "their" feeders as the males are! I have five feeders out, at difffernt spots around the house - situated so that a hummer can't sit somewhere and guard two of them at the same time.

We have 2 feeders in the backyard and a male 'bully' watches them like a hawk and chases other Hummers away. Then, we got 2 more feeders for the front and a female 'bully' does the same thing. I have a "Y-hook stake" that I spread out horizonal so Hummers can sit and perch. It's so much fun to watch the Hummers! The Hummers in the front are all females (never see a red throat) and look like 'babies'. Yesterday, I saw 3 Hummers on the 2 feeders in front.

We change the sugar water (no red coloring) daily and I try to have lots of flowers for them all around the yard.

We love them!

This message was edited Aug 19, 2006 9:27 AM

First year male hummers (those that hatched this year) don't have the red throat yet. If you get a chance to see them up close, you may see a little red marking on each side of their throat. Females never have any red. And remember, it only shows when light is reflecting off of it.

It's been a quiet year here in NJ for the little darlings.

And, except for a solitary female, buzzing around my head , I think they've gone South.

I think she was saying, "Goodbye."

: )

same here in western NY, flyboy. one little female left. I think all the rest have left for warmer quarters. I keep telling her it must be time to leave, but the next day she shows up at the feeder again.

gram

I think your hummers are in my yard. It's a war zone out there! I have put up additional feeders right outside my kitchen window, along with the ones spread around the various sides of the house. That seems to have helped the territorial fighting. Oh, they still keep buzzing each other, but then several will settle down at each feeder and feed for awhile, in momentary harmony. There are eight ports in each feeder, and there will be four hummers feasting at each feeder. I don't think they want to get any closer than that. And we have to refill every day! Those are in addition to the flowers in the garden - especially the Hamelia and Russellia that they love.

I only have a few to and they always fight. I was able to find some 4 oz. feeders last year and spread them out all over the yard. That really helps. The only time I have had them feed together was after Hurricane Katrina when there wasn't anything else for them to eat. I have been to places that have 20 or 30 at a time and they will all feed together. I guess it is when you only have a few they think they own the territory lol

I think that you've hit on something there.

They must be getting too lazy to fly north.

Hope there are no hurricanes to foul them up.

: )