Hummingbird Adventures #3

A frequent visitor, I think it's Zippy, because it wasn't afraid me at all.

Take a look at this photo and let me know what you think.

And another.

KC, it could be, I told you I thought I had an imposter. I saw Zoom, but couldn't get even a bad photo of him today.
WIB,
SW

At Sierra Azul they used to have a resident albino hummer. SOOO amazing! But Trickster clearly has color. One of the sites I've looked at says the hummers crossbreed a lot, and it makes it difficult to identify them. Apparently the bird community has gotten all excited several times about "discovering a new species", only to find the kids were just partyin' in a different 'hood.....

"Take a look at this photo and let me know what you think".

I think it must be low on iron.

Margaret, Ya got me! I really had to think about it, then I realized that it was stropping it's beak across the top of the old iron bird cage stand. Had to ROTFLOL! DH is giving me strange looks. I'm used to it by now, you'd think he would be too.
Thanks for the Laugh of the Day!
KC, beats me. Isn't he pretty though?
WIB,
SW

I didn't realize they crossbred. They're so territorial, I'm surprised.

The adventure continues :-). That's so neat that they come in and out of your greenhouse. I love the "take a look at this photo and let me know what you think" pic...too funny!

LOL, Sunnyg, stropping his beak, indeed! Is he preparing to fight off marauding masses of boy hummies, SW?

I'll have to watch the 'guard' on my feeder better, to see what he's using to sharpen his beak! LOL

I've noticed they will do the same thing stropping their beaks after feeding on vines, branches, ropes, power cords, and the top of the feeder. All of them do it. I don't think that he is sharpening off his beak to fight off the other males. The image makes me smile, though. They do crack me up, I didn't see some of the usual hummers today. Trickster made sure to make his faster than my shutter speed on the camera visits.
This one didn't wait long before coming in to visit the gh this morning when I opened the door.

I think this is Zippy. Wasn't camera shy.

Feeding.

Look at that round tummy!
I didn't know that they would interbreed, but I never thought about it. Would explain a couple of my strange looking hummers.

Zippy in the lower left pretending to be a wisteria leaf. One of her favorite perches.

Zoom made an appearance this morning, at the outdoor feeder.

I'm still imagining them with little gladiator helmets, defending the realm. LOL

Is the indoor feeder more popular than the outside one? Just curious, since they head for it as soon as you open up.

Not the best of photos, but this appears to be Zoom at the feeder just inside the gh, in the late afternoon.

You know Sally, it just depends. On the warmer days the inside feeder seems to see less action, but at the end of the day they usually visit both until I close the gh doors about dusk.
Another one today, inside the gh, late afternoon, subject Zoom.
Hmm, I wonder if it tastes different from this flower. Notice the little feathers on his neck sticking up?

Here he is showing off on top of the feeder.

I think this side tastes best!
Seconds later he Zoomed out of the gh.

A few more visits to the outside feeder this evening after I closed the door.

Last one for today. I love to watch them Hummers fly backwards.
I think that both feeders are both popular, although I don't think any are over-nighting anymore. It seems to me that the one in the shade is usually the most popular at any given time of the day. LOL!
I just am so busy with the chores, that I open the door in passing and don't usually stick around to take photos. I try to pace myself and take the photos when I rest. I am sitting down mostly. I have chairs of the right height strategically placed here and there to facilitate the photo taking. I'm glad for rechargeable batteries.
What Hummingbird adventures are you having?
WIB,
SW

Our cockatiel has branches on his play gym that he has worn down grooming his beak. He is very industrious about it!

I've seen the chickens and peacocks do it too. Come to think of it our geese do it and so do those parakeets.
Must be a bird thing. LOL!
WIB,
SW

SW, your post at 9:21 caught my eye when you note that "after feeding on vines, branches, ropes, power cords" is when they do their stropping. Made me think that perhaps rather than sharpening they are "cleaning" their beaks. More importantly, though, I'm wondering why they would even need to clean them after eating vines, branches, ropes, power cords (!!?) LOL, ROFL.

Oh, SW, forgive me . . . I just can't help myself. The information just makes my mind spin! Thanks for that, I needed the laugh after oral surgery yesterday, even tho it hurts to smile.

Linda

It's the bugs, Linda - but I don't blame you for looking for a laughing matter!

If you put yourself in a bird's...feet...its beak is its most important body part. They use it for everything, preening those all-important feathers, eating, protection, communication, etc. Makes sense they want to keep it in tip-top shape. Just like we protect and care for our hands.

OK, I don't get many photos of hummers at home, but I remembered I had this one from Costa Rica. This was taken in the rain forest but I brightened it a little so you can see the colors of the hummer a little better. We saw these guys everywhere but they had feeders at the main entrance so they would congregate.

I still like the little helmets. Cool picture sis, the colors are different than we get.

OMG! Great photo, KC. Love the color and markings! Also true about how they use their beaks. It's their fifth hand.
Twin, I have really got to quit typing so fast that I forget to punctuate properly. Oh well. Upon re reading the post, I had to laugh too. The hummers eat at the feeder, perch on the above mentioned items, and then strop their beaks.
Trickster is still giving me a lot of fun. Need to set up a critter cam like Dad had. Trickster must be on America's Most Wanted, because he really doesn't want his photo taken. Then he flies in your face when you don't have it just to scold you. Bold little bugger.
Will have some photos to post later on.
WIB,
SW

I think Trickster's cousin is over here bedeviling our resident Anna's. He streaks in trying to get a drink and the two of them go off battling overhead.

Yesterday I was putting the refilled feeder back up and one of them buzzed me head on with his little helmet all flared out. LOL! It was like a pink bullet headed straight between my eyes.

SW, I'll have to look at my CR bird book and see how many varieties they have there - it is a lot, I remember that! So glad we took that trip.

The hummers didn't much like the windy conditions today. They came in and out of the gh at will. They did seem to use the outside feeder more this morning when it wasn't windy.
This afternoon I went inside the gh, just to do nothing but relax. I had a lot of company. At one point there were four hummers in there with me. They all flew out before dark.
I was able to get some really nice photos.
This is a series of the first of five photos of the hummer we call Zoom.

Here Zoom is at the feeder. Can you see his little white lightning bolt mark at the outside corner of his eye?

Here he is in all of his glory.

A better look at his markings.

He must have been really hungry. He ate a lot.

It was breezy here, too, and chilly. Haven't seen too much of the hummers and nothing of the orioles for two days, though I filled both feeders. Our birds slept all day, too.

Great photos, SW.

Last one for now, worth the view to see the iridescense of his feathers.
WIB,
SW