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07/05/2007 10:15:24 AM · #1 |
I did not take these photos, but received them in an email. Is this normal hummingbird behavior, or have these photos been altered?  |
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07/05/2007 10:17:30 AM · #2 |
They look fine to me, the red container will attract the hummingbirds to your hand. I've seen video of humming birds feeding directly from a hand!!
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07/05/2007 10:23:49 AM · #3 |
| Wow! How cool would that be!? |
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07/05/2007 10:50:41 AM · #4 |
| Hummingbirds are fearless & yes they will really do this. Their little feet must tickle on her hand (look at the expression on her face). |
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07/05/2007 10:55:16 AM · #5 |
| I had a pet hummingbird as a kid named "Joey". He'd come to a whistle and feed out of your hand. Pic doesn't surprise me at all. |
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07/05/2007 10:55:50 AM · #6 |
with a lot of patience they will get used to your presence and feed from your hands. A recent article in birds and blooms explained how to do this. Very fascinating.
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07/05/2007 11:52:04 AM · #7 |
The only thing that I questions is this:
Hummingbirds are solo creatures, they arent "flock" birds. Also, they are very territorial about feeding grounds too (this might only be at the end of the summer, in prep for the flight to Mexico) |
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07/05/2007 11:57:26 AM · #8 |
I've seen both people feeding a hummingbird in their hands (holding a bowl of sugar-water), and large groups feeding from the same feeder at the same time (the largest, 16 on one feeder). In the wild I've seen quite a few hummingbirds in the same area, for example feeding at the same patch of milkweed, but not on exactly the same flower at the same time.
The pictures look like it'd be possible to do that. But who knows, maybe it's another PS to the rescue :)
Message edited by author 2007-07-05 12:03:49. |
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07/05/2007 11:59:13 AM · #9 |
Ill try it this weekend - I got time to kill haha.
The other thing is, those look like a couple different species too, but now im just over analyzing. |
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07/05/2007 12:00:19 PM · #10 |
Hummers are not flockers, but on occasion, when there's a lot of feeding to be done, they will not shy away from each other. I shot the pic below outside a restaurant in Cloudcroft New Mexico a few years ago. There were about 10 feeders all with flocks like this. The air was positively thrumming with their wing-beats:
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07/05/2007 12:08:17 PM · #11 |
| Thats wild. The most I ever see in the same area are 3, and they never feed at the same time, usually they are chasing each other off the feeders. |
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07/05/2007 12:10:31 PM · #12 |
| When I was visiting Costa Rica, I saw dozens of hummingbirds flocking around the same feeder. Doesn't look too unusual to me. |
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07/05/2007 12:23:42 PM · #13 |
At my parents' house are some hummingbirds that will feed from your hand; I have done it many times.
R.
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07/05/2007 12:31:20 PM · #14 |
In the west, hummingbird migration has already begun. Rufous and Calliope Hummingbirds are moving south as we speak.
So, large numbers can be attracted to feeders from now into mid-September, depending where you are. So, I know the shot is real and have seen numerous shots like. I have many times placed my finger under a feeder and have had a hummer sit on my finger while drinking from the feeder.
A few individuals in migration are territorial, especially the fiest Rufous males. They will chase other hummer off feeders. |
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07/05/2007 12:31:32 PM · #15 |
My friends mom does this all the time. She also hand feeds a couple of chipmunks that live behind her garage.
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07/05/2007 12:45:54 PM · #16 |
Hummers can be extremely territorial when resources (flowers) are scarce, but tolerate each other when there's lots of food to be had. The plentiful resource negates foof as being a limiting factor.
My wife worked part-time in a gift shop on the outskirts of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica in 1999-2000. They had a whole bunch of feeders that attracted many hummers of different species at once. Crappy photo (not mine) |
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07/05/2007 12:48:21 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by Beagleboy:
My wife worked part-time in a gift shop on the outskirts of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica in 1999-2000. They had a whole bunch of feeders that attracted many hummers of different species at once. Crappy photo (not mine) |
LOL - that's exactly the place where I saw the dozens of hummingbirds at one feeder. Unfortunately I only had an old manual Minolta 35mm at the time... |
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07/05/2007 01:54:00 PM · #18 |
Yeup, I was out rock climbing last Sunday and had on a really bright orange shirt, and a hummingbird came right up to me and hovered no more than a few inches from me. Even when I turned to face it, it just stayed right there in front of me. Fearless!
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07/05/2007 01:59:11 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by ajdelaware:
The only thing that I questions is this:
Hummingbirds are solo creatures, they arent "flock" birds. Also, they are very territorial about feeding grounds too (this might only be at the end of the summer, in prep for the flight to Mexico) |
They are territorial!! It is very common for a whole bunch to be feeding from a single source, but you can see how rude the are to one another!!
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07/05/2007 02:01:10 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by Beagleboy:
Hummers can be extremely territorial when resources (flowers) are scarce, but tolerate each other when there's lots of food to be had. The plentiful resource negates foof as being a limiting factor.
My wife worked part-time in a gift shop on the outskirts of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica in 1999-2000. They had a whole bunch of feeders that attracted many hummers of different species at once. Crappy photo (not mine) |
Definitely one of my favorite spots!!!
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