Hummingbird Feeding Frenzy

Right-Click and view image...

tanstaafl.

Wow!

What's in the feeder?

Do they fly off staggering? <grin>

Ross

Wow, indeed!
It's like an Edgerton multiple exposure.
I count 9 birdies!

Standard 4:1 mixture [by volume] of water and sugar.

We're having a rare tropical storm here, so it has been raining steadily for two days. I think the rain may be diluting the nectar in the flowers or something, making the feeder more desirable. The activity just before dawn is quite intense.

tanstaafl.

tanstaafl.

And here was I quiet excited to see just one in our yard this summer

For both photos it almost seems plausible to suggest it's a single bird captured with multiple exposures. But wow, 14 birds! I don't think I've ever seen more than 3 hummingbirds together at any one time in person.

The hummingbirds around here are fiercely territorial, will guard their claimed feeder, and actively try to dissuade their bretheren from feeding at it. I guess Doug's particular breed are better at sharing.

No, we have a few Bully Birds around here that chase the other birds away. But when there are a dozen or more really hungry birds on a rainy morning, the bully bird is overwhelmed and gives in to the inevitable.

In the afternoon when there are only three or four birds at a time, the bully bird reigns triumphant. Then, at dusk, just before the fruit bats take over, the hummingbird mob descends again and the bully bird waits his turn just like the rest of them.

tanstaafl.

I did think it was the same bird!!
Wow!

I had to go read up on them after seeing these pics. The most surprising item was that their wings are rigid, having only the one joint.

My mother fed hummingbirds in a big way. She had six feeders on her porch at the farm, and would routinely have 15 or 20 birds flitting in and out. The bullies tried, but failed, to control them.

Once I had the feeders down for cleaning. I brought one feeder back out, held it in my hands and sat very still. In a few minutes, some of birds came back and sipped from the feeder. One even landed on my finger - I felt a small prick, but essentially no weight (as compared to the feeder's weight, anyway).

A very cool experience.

-jk