I've Seen It All, A Humming Bird Fight

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tbradsim1

Lifer
Jan 14, 2012
9,092
11,008
Southwest Louisiana
Yesterday smoking on the old porch , watching my Humming Bird feeder , 2 little birds started bumping into each other, then they locked up in flight, thought it was a Boy, Girl thing, but No, they started corkscrewing down, down, and hit the ground. Those little SOBs were fighting, so I read up on those little suckers, seems they are very protective of their feeders.wife went into town today and bought another one. Hung it up and waiting if they will eat and make up. LOL

 

agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,332
3,413
In the sticks in Mississippi
They are crazy little birds, and seem to have no fear sometimes. We have had two feeders on our porch for years, and they are so much fun to watch. Every spring we get at least 2, male and female, and in a little while there seems to be 7 or 8 buzzing around. And they do fight a lot too. A couple of weeks ago I was smoking on the porch, and one fell out of the sky, plop, right on the walk in front of the porch. It laid on the ground for a few seconds, and I got up to see what was wrong, and when I got within a few feet, it buzzed up and away. I've even had them try to land on the feeder as I'm taking it down to refill. Funny little critters.... :crazy:

 

apatim

Can't Leave
Feb 17, 2014
497
0
Jacksonville, FL
Yep, we watch them attack larger birds almost a daily. It's cool when they circle the other bird and suddenly fly up and then dive bomb them. They are, indeed, fearless little boogers.

 

metarzan

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 14, 2012
608
117
Yup it is a yearly ritual for us. Wife has to refill a 2 cup feeder daily these last few weeks. Territorial little bastards barely allow me to take it down for fueling. If the hummers thin out, look around for a praying mantis. They are attracted to the hummers and will reach out and take them down. Had to squash a few in the last couple weeks. If more than one feeder, hang them out of sight of each other. Very entertaining lil guys.

 

prndl

Lifer
Apr 30, 2014
1,571
2,901
if they were the size of bluejays, the dogs in the yard would be in trouble.
before katrina hit, we had fifteen to twenty fighting for dibs on the 5 feeders we had around the house...at times, it looked like the "battle of britain" was going on in the backporch.
the year after katrina, we had none...the damage on the coast was so widespread, I'm sure there was very little to sustain them as they made their way further down....in the ensuing years, the numbers started to climb again until we now have around eight...the first week in october, they will start leaving here one by one and return the first week in april...just like clocks.
fascinating creatures, to be sure.

 

petergunn

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 3, 2013
183
2
Every spring we get two separate Clans here and they fight for the feeder(two separate feeders didn't help). Last year I witnessed the death of a female because of their combat but that's rare, most of the time they provide great entertainment while I'm puffing away on the deck.

 

voorhees

Lifer
May 30, 2012
3,834
937
Gonadistan
Same here, we put out the feeder and they battle over who gets any. I've actually held two in my hand on separate occasions. Saved them from sure death from being trapped inside without water or food. They can die pretty quickly without it. I compare them to little jet planes with small gas tanks.

 

brokenkrayon

Might Stick Around
Jul 17, 2014
50
0
We usually have seven or eight fighting over one feeder. Mostly all females. When I fill the feeder they will fight like crazy, when it gets low, they start to share. I watched 4 females all eat at the exact time. They would take a drink and then back off to look at the others, then take another drink. The cool thing was they were all synchronized while doing this.
They are also smart little sh*ts... I have a bottle of mix sitting on my grill that I use to refill the feeder when it gets low. After leaving town for a few days both the feeder and bottle were empty. So when I got back, I was smoking my pipe, and a little hummer came right up to my face to get my attention, went to the bottle and tapped on the cap, then went to the feeder tapped on it, and then buzzed my head... I got the picture and made some more feed.

 

jimbo69

Might Stick Around
Jun 21, 2014
84
2
And I thought I was the only one who likes to watch the birds while smoking my pipe. :puffy:
I've got a curious robin that likes to land close by and watch me when I am out. The hummingbirds couldn't care less as long as I keep feeding them.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Humming birds are amazing little beings. The pace at which their metabolism runs and they way they maintain

body heat at all is astonishing. To merely fly and maneuver, they must have elaborate brain circuitry , and the

usual truisms about how creatures "don't think" seem absurd. They are obviously processing incredible amounts

of information and reacting far beyond instinct. They are conscious.

 

simnettpratt

Lifer
Nov 21, 2011
1,516
2
@krayon, that's awesome.
I saw a hummingbird fight a squirrel at the Frito Lay headquarters north of Dallas. Squirrel was on a bush and apparently was in the bird's territory or something, so the hummingbird attacked him. They fought for a bit, until the squirrel said enough, and left. Hummingbird won.

 

daveinlax

Charter Member
May 5, 2009
1,989
2,651
WISCONSIN
They're so territorial that we have two feeders out of sight of each other to prevent some of the issues. They will buzz at anything that is drinking on their feeder. We love to watch the little birds every summer they should be leaving us for the winter any day now. 8O

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
The terns on Midway Island used to attack people, little black Sooty Terns, and white Fairy Terns. You had to kind of

duck and cover and walk away in a crouch. The Navy was fiercely protective of the birds at the time, as they should

have been, so didn't accept any serious flailing them away. Midway has always been an incredibly rich habitat for birds,

the Laysan albatross but many, many others. Unfortunately, now, all the plastic that swirls in the garbage vortex in the

mid-Pacific has poisoned many birds. They're hanging on, but lose many adults and even more chicks every year. The

little corpses of chicks show skeletons framing a bundle of trash plastic pieces from various products that have been

dumped or washed into the Pacific Ocean. The plastic may be there for hundreds of years, and the quantity is vast and

not particularly subject to clean-up. It would require an ongoing netting and salvage operation on a vast industrial scale.

Who pays? The birds, for starters.

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,068
Maryland
postimg.cc
I planted a 20' row of red Bee Balms behind our patioa. The little buggers really loved them this summer and I enjoyed watching them duke it out. We put our cat out on lead, just in front of those plants. He had a blast watching them and occasionally, they'd dive bomb him. One little guy made about 10 consecutive, completely symmetrical U-shape dives up and down over him. I have no idea what that was all about.
After the bee balms died, I put out a red glass feeder. They didn't touch that. I used the nectar mix sold by Lowes. They come over to it,then zoom away. What gives?
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10382143_10204319930186303_2979814773134161653_n.jpg


 

tbradsim1

Lifer
Jan 14, 2012
9,092
11,008
Southwest Louisiana
Al try making your own mix, 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water , heat until dissolved, let cool, that's my mix and it works for me. Just a thought, oh tie a red ribbon to feeder.

 
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