Hummingbirds

[Ursidae69]

The next time you hold a quarter, feel how much it weighs, and then realize that it weighs double what the hummingbird in these pictures weighs. I am pretty sure this is a calliope hummingbird sitting on her nest, females are tough to ID, especially sitting on her nest with the important characters hidden.

If you make an “ok” sign with your thumb and finger, that is how large this nest is. The inside of her nest is like a small thimble. Her nest is made of animal hair and spider webs woven together with moss and ornately decorated with lichen.

She will fly to somewhere in central or southern Mexico this fall and be back here next spring, usually to the same patch of habitat. A thousand miles or more one-way and she weighs about 3 grams, half the size of a quarter, and she’ll make this trip twice per year, for up to ten years or more, however long she may live.

Nature is cool…

If you have any hummingbird pictures, post ‘em up!

[obscurotron]

Maybe it's the undying kid in me, but whenever I see a hummingbird, I get all excited and point it out to anyone within earshot. They're such neat animals - nature never ceases to amaze me.

Along the same lines, I get that way about ladybugs. More so when I'm hiking along a river to go fishing and I find a whole swarm of them - I'll just stop and watch for a while. Just the other day I discovered a ladybug that hitched a ride in my truck coming back from a hunting trip. My little girl was with me, just getting her out of the carseat, so I got the critter on my finger, told her the nursery rhyme and had her blow on it gently. On cue, the thing flew off to find a new home.

[haven]

"She will fly to somewhere in central or southern Mexico...A thousand miles or more one-way"

Also amazing is the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, the species of h-bird most common east of the Mississippi. Ruby-Throats have a similar migration to southern Mexico and Central America. But many of them fly directly across the Gulf of Mexico to get there. That's a distance of about 500 miles with no chance to refuel, or to stop and rest. Talk about power to weight ratio!

There are 8 species of hummingbirds that are commonly found in USA, including Alaska. And there are 8 additional Mexican h-birds that are known to nest in border areas of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The area between Patagonia and Sierra Vista AZ is home to most of these visitors from south of the border.

It's easy to become captivated by hummingbirds. When you succumb to this particular form of birdwatching dementia, then you have to go to Ecuador. This mountainous country, smaller than the state of Colorado, is home to more than 130 species of hummingbirds. It's common for a hummingbird feeder to be attended by 20 or more h-bird species, and they put on an amazing show!

[User_Name]

I love hummingbirds, the last several years the Annas have been overwintering here in WA state, a couple years ago we had 16 inches of snow on the ground and I was out feeding the squirrels when I heard that infamous Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz go zipping by.

I looked up and spotted a hummer which meant I had to dig the feeders out of storage in the garage because I thought they had all left, spent the next several weeks swapping frozen feeders for thawed ones I had in the house.

This is one waiting for me sitting on the deck, it was 23 F that day.
They seem to just go into a state of hibernation because I was able to walk right up to it and it's eyes would slowly blink but it didn't move.

[DrMoab]

I had one get stuck in my garage the other day. I was actually able to catch it and let it go outside. You are right about the weight. It seriously felt like I was holding nothing in my hand yet its little heart was going a mile of minute and you could really feel it too.

[refried]

I get a couple in my house every year and my last house had skylights on the porch they couldn't stay away from, I've gotten pretty good at catching them.



I have better pics, I'll have to find them

[Ursidae69]

Awesome posts and photos! I love the cold hummingbird all puffed up, great pic.

As a bird bander, I get to a see a lot of birds up close. The number of recaptures I see always astounds me. How a hummingbird, with a little tiny brain, can travel 2000 miles in one year and make it back to the same field, and get caught sometimes in the exact same net baffles me. Some of my friends cannot even drive around Santa Fe without their NAV turned on in their Lexus or else they'll get lost.

If you're in southern Arizona, you have a lot of diversity in these birds like Chip mentioned. This link details a lot of the hot spots.

A couple more pics.

Makeshift hummingbird feeder on a camping trip in southern NM


Nice male Costa's

[Tucson T4R]

A few more.

[User_Name]

A few more.

Love this one, that face is a priceless shot
Looks like someone dipped it's face in a bowl of pollen

[Tucson T4R]

Love this one, that face is a priceless shot
Looks like someone dipped it's face in a bowl of pollen

Thanks I thought that one was funny too. Little kid busted.