I finally got a picture of one, the best one that I could get... if anyone else has these, I found a method of getting rid of them, and in the process, keeping the hummingbirds safe. We just simply wait for them to land on a limb and spray them with a water hose that has a super power wash nozzle. The water pressure is pretty much like a power washer. And it only takes one hit with the water, and the ugly mean things are dead.
Thanks Teresa!
Hi Teresa - I saw two of what I think might be the same thing as yours one summer a while ago (haven't seen any here since then) and found out that they are called robber flies here. Are these the same as the ones you have? There were really scary looking and seemed very unafraid of me taking pictures of it lol. Are you saying that they will attack hummingbirds?! Holy cow!
Here is the other one I saw. This one looked a bit skinnier then the first one.
yes, that looks the same. And yes, we have had these flies preying on our hummingbirds! The flies will land on a tree limb close to the feeders, and wait for them to come up to feed and the flies will jump on their back. The hummers got scared to feed, so for a week we took them down so that we could find a way to rid of these mean carnivorous insects so our hummingbirds can be safe and happy. When I was a kid, I remember one biting me, and it left a rather big hole on my shoulder... i've always been scared of them. I thought they were a horsefly though.
Lily, So good to see you! Those things are really nasty looking! I would be afraid too!
Hi Pell - good to see you too!
Well I looked on the internet and found this really interesting account of a robber fly/hummer attack on a hummer here at the Hilton Pond web site. If you scroll about half way down there is a photo of a couple who sent in the report with great photos:
http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek070901.html
And while moving one of the flies to a different location one of the people who sent in the pictures got quite a bite on her finger, just as you described Teresa. It sounds like they are more prevalent in your area. I am glad I got to see one up close that one time though. :-)
I have'nt seen any more cannibalflies... or robber flies! I will say that I have noticed A LOT of mississippi kite's flying around over our house, maybe they are eating them! I think they're going away because it has cooled off quite a bit also. I'm just glad that they are disappearing. There has been quite a few in our swimming pool dead also.
