Hummingbirds

These are the lights we have hanging on our awnings.  We put up a hummingbird feeder.  The feeder is hanging from one of the same hooks the lights are using.  This hummingbird is standing, well sitting guard on his stash of nectar.


In flight.  Those wings are really moving out.  I am thinking these are Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds. 

Thought I would give you some very interesting and amazing facts about these guys.

Physical Description
Average length: 3.5 inches (8.9 cm)
Average weight: 1/8 ounce (3.1 g)
Body temperature: 105°-108°F (40.5°-42.2°C)
Wing beats: 40-80 per second, average about 52
Respiration: 250 per minute
Heart rate: 250 beats/min resting; 1200 beats/min feeding
Flight speed: 30 mph (48 kph) normal; 50 mph (80 kph) escape; 63 mph (101 kph) dive

Plumage
Adult male: Emerald green back, iridescent ruby red gorget (throat, I did not know this word! great day I learned something new) that may appear black under some lighting conditions, gray flanks, forked tail with no white. Smaller than the female.
Adult female: Emerald green back, white breast and throat, rounded tail with white tips. Larger than the male, with longer bill.
Juveniles: Young of both sexes look like the adult female. In August and September, young males may develop some red spots in the gorget.
Molts: One complete molt per year, which may start during the fall migration and continue into March. Young males acquire full ruby gorgets during their first molt.

This is great stuff, but back off all of you.




They are constantly battling over the feeder.  One hummer was forced to smash into the window as I was sitting at the computer.  He glanced off, but kept on flying.  It startled me though.

This guy is heading out.
More information on these guys.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is by far the most common species that breeds in the eastern half of North America. Ruby-throats are intensely inquisitive and thus easily attracted to feeders, where males in particular typically display aggressive territoriality toward rival hummers, other birds, and even insects such as bees, butterflies, and sphinx moths. They quickly become accustomed to human presence, and will swoop down to investigate red articles of clothing, possibly as potential food sources. Feeders hung at windows attract as many visitors as ones farther from structures, and the bird that claims a feeder as its territory may spend much of the day perched nearby, guarding the food source against intruders. Many hummingbird watchers find "Hummer Warz" endlessly entertaining, although the chases are obviously serious business to the hungry birds. For a short period immediately after fledging, a female will tolerate the presence of her own young at the feeder, but they are soon treated the same as other adult birds - as rivals in pursuit of the food necessary to prepare for the fall migration. Courtship is apparently very brief, if it exists at all, and once mated the female raises the young alone. The walnut-sized nest, built by the female, is constructed on a foundation of bud scales attached to a tree limb with spider silk; lichens camouflage the outside, and the inside is lined with dandelion, cattail, or thistle down. The nest will stretch to contain the growing nestlings, and may sometimes be reused (rebuilt) the following year.

We have another bird feeder up with seeds.  We have some birds coming to it too.  It is small and they have a hard time getting the seeds out.  We are going to get a different kind so maybe more birds will come and have an easier time of it.

Hot today so we stayed home.  We have a lot of produce from the Amish Produce Auction we went to yesterday so we decided to freeze some.  Fixed eggplant for lunch, yumm!!!!

Love this cartoon.  Funny, but wait it may be true.  ????






For those of you not keeping up with things this for drinking the "BIG" size drinks in NY