Pg17

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is the only hummer we have here. My sister

had a pair build this nest and raise three babies above the knot of the plant pot hanger on her porch.

It’s hard to believe unless you see

it yourself, but the entire nest is

only the size of a walnut. The

nestlings in this picture are ready

to fledge – 17 July 2007.

I was proud to have this photo

selected by the Cornell Lab of

Ornithology for their estate

planning website.

I see videos online of groups of hummers

all sharing the same feeder. I don’t know

where they were or which species of birds

they were, but that sort of thing doesn’t

happen at my house! If I had a feeder

for every single bird in the vicinity of my

house, the hummers would STILL fight to

be the only bird who gets to use ALL of

them. At times I’ll have eight birds

competing with one another, with none of

them actually getting a chance to feed.

Here you see a female in the foreground

reacting to a male’s attack from the rear.

This is the eponymous Ruby-throated male.

The 2000 feet of extra altitude on the

Cumberland Plateau means that the birds

don’t show up here until around the first

week of April. They leave around the first

week of October.

Last year the last bird was sighted on October 9th. It’s almost like magic when

the one day lots of birds are around, and then the next day they have all

disappeared. I leave the feeders up for several weeks afterward, in case some

strays missed the mass migration and are in need of a pick-me-up. In fact, one

bird appeared at the feeders last Autumn several days after all the others had

migrated. That single bird continued to come to the feeders for two entire

weeks before it also headed south...I hope it made it.

They all become more aggressive as migration approaches in late summer/early

Fall, often sitting right on the feeders “protecting their territory.” At that

time of the year it's nothing but "dog fights" all day long at the feeders.

This is a female “feeder sentinel” – sitting right on the hook from which the

feeder was hung...tense, alert, and ready to take on all comers.

20 Aug 2012

11 Aug 2007

The two photos of hovering hummers on this page are rare instances where my

camera stopped the motion of the wings. This is something that happens purely

by chance when the picture is snapped right at the instant when the wings are

at that point where they are about to change direction, and they really do

pause for the merest fraction of a second.