Hums are gorgeous, delicate little things, right? Right. Therefore their personalities -- birdinalities? -- must be delicate and sweet, right? Wrong! I live in the mountain West where we have two "for sure" species -- broad-tails and rufous -- and occasional stragglers -- calliope, blue throat, magnificent (the big guy).
Rufous is tiny but a terror as guardian of food sources. One summer I found a dead male rufous clinging by one claw to a feeder perch. He had a pinpoint injury over one "shoulder" on his back. I called an ornithologist friend who said a broad-tail probably had had it with the rufous bullying and *gored* him.
Hummer story #1
ickkkkk - you just dont think of hummers doing this...or of them being so violent.....