Posted on 05/31/2016 12:38:20 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Sometimes it’s surprising to discover how little we know about common plants or animals. Consider the ruby-throated hummingbird. If you live in the eastern half of Canada or the United States and have spotted a hummingbird hovering around a feeder in the backyard in summer, this is the bird you saw. But while scientists have documented many of the feeding and mating behaviors of the birds and that the birds migrate south to Central America and Cuba, there are still plenty of mysteries, such as whether the birds go the long way through Mexico when they migrate or whether they take a shortcut across the Gulf of Mexico.
It turns out that the tiny birds, some of which are small enough to fit in your hand, could easily take the shortcut, even though they’d get no break on the journey. Based on analyses of wing shape, body size and fat reserves, some of these tiny birds could fly more than 2,000 kilometers in the right winds. That’s more than enough to get them the 1,000 kilometers across the Gulf, researchers report March 9 in The Auk.
Theodore Zenzal Jr. and Frank Moore of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg studied ruby-throated hummingbirds at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama, one of the birds’ stopovers on their journey south. From 2010 to 2014, they captured birds in the refuge during late summer and early fall. Birds were weighed, measured, banded and released.
Zenzal and Moore found that older birds tended to arrive at the refuge earlier and stayed for shorter times than younger birds. They also had more fat that could fuel a long voyage, and older males had the most. Based on these fuel loads, the birds could fly for another 2,260 kilometers on average without stopping for food, the team calculates.
That was just the average, though. Some very skinny birds arrived at the refuge, and had enough fat for just a short trip of less than 20 kilometers. This may explain why some hummingbirds stuck around in the refuge for a couple of weeks — they may have needed to bulk up before taking off again. Other birds had plenty of fat, though, enough to go more than 4,000 kilometers.
Hummingbirds’ small size may actually be an advantage when it comes to long-distance flight, the researchers note. These birds are really good at taking in a lot of fuel, and being small means that they can carry a larger percentage of their body weight as fat than can larger birds.
But just because the hummingbirds may be capable of taking the shortcut across the water doesn’t mean they actually do. Weather patterns aren’t favorable for such a flight until late fall, Zenzal and Moore say. So it may make more sense, especially for juveniles, to take the long way around since there are opportunities for pit stops should they be needed.
I use tap water but boil it first.
Years ago I had feeders hanging on the front porch, now they are in the yard. I’ve had three come through buzzing the front porch where they used to be.
We had a flock of 50 Red-Crowned Amazon parrots pass through once. Unbelievable sqwacks!!!! Deafening, actually but they are stunning to see. We have a few that lurk about year'round it seems.
My best bird story is the Macaw I saw flying around our neighborhood. My mom was driving and I told her to follow that bird. Well, the bird landed in a tree in someone's backyard and I ran up to the house where the bird landed and it was Arthur Laffer's house. He let me in to see his collection of exotic birds. TRUE STORY.
We have the Rufous hummers. Known to be the fiercest fighters.
Why do they hum?
/straight man
We have two large feeders; one on the back porch, the other in the breezeway, both have to be refilled twice a week.
We have a heat lamp focused on the one in the breezeway which comes on automatically when the temps hit 34 degrees. We have between 5 or 6, maybe more, that winter over here in southern Oregon.
Just like humans.
Well if that’s the case, I could fly across the Atlantic!
Gnarliest of all birds - fearless - chase all other hummers from my feeder. Noisy too. Love them all.
BUT...I cannot fathom these guys flying straight for hours when their energy consumption is so high.
You would think these Spitfires are short rangers.
That is so cool. Where do you live that Amazon parrots pass through? That has to be absolutely beautiful to see them.
I remember one year, at a house we lived at years ago, where we had many hummers hitting the feeders. You could sit out on the deck drinking a beer, and watch them fight over the feeder.
It was like watching aerial combat I image. Little fighter jets jinkin and turning And attacking. Aggressive little guys.
C’mon, everyone knows they ride on the backs of geese heading North. :)
I’ll bet the oil derricks in the Gulf have been very beneficial as a place for them to rest.
They really are amazing.
Check out this swarm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4m8fGTMXHI
I read of a woman in Louisiana that goes through 5 lbs. of sugar a day when the hummers come over the Gulf.
I'll go out on a limb here and say,
Because they don't know the words.
badda bing
I believe they do have memory! We had a tufted titmouse that used to hop on the back of our golden retriever and shuffle her feet to stir up any loose hair. She would gather it up (she looked like she had a big mustache) and go build her nest. She spent days getting hair from the dog, with her honey cheering her on from the railing. This went on for at least 7 years. Always one bird shuffling, and one cheering.
My son and friend were watching the hummers from the window. Something spooked them and they all took off...... one straight into the window screen! Its beak went through the screen, the screen provided a sudden stop for its body and it spit all its juice all over the window. The boys cracked up, and went out to free him. Just as they got there, he backed up and took off, none the worse for wear.
You are lucky.
LOL, I don’t have enough experience with them to see that fearlessness expressed against me, but I have seen them dart at far larger birds that flee at their approach.
When I am at my kitchen sink, they occasionally come the feeder near the window, but instead of taking the nectar, they hover there looking through the window at me with what appears to be honest curiosity.
I find them fascinating, apart from their avian abilities!
See my tagline. ;^)
As far as I know, the TT’s don’t migrate in your area (or mine). Those little birds are there all year round, and are watching your dog all the time! They’re comfortable with their environment, and have learned how to use it :-)
Great Story!
-JT
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