I have always been fascinated with Hummingbirds. Their feats of aerial magic always delight but a very distinct memory I have from the 90’s, came when I opened my curtains at a hotel in Palm Springs and saw Hummingbirds landing on a tree limb. Naively never thought that happened.
Speaking of aerial magic, did you know that …
…..hummingbirds are the only species that can fly backwards for a significant amount of time. In fact, hummingbirds also can fly upside down. This is all down to how their wings are structured. They have a ball and socket joint (known as a rotator cuff) that allows for a greater span of movement, freeing their wings up to move in all directions.
From the Garden Bird Website
Shortly thereafter Shar and I observed the gorgeous little creature at her feeder, behind our townhouse, who landed and nicely posed for me to get several pictures. From these I was able to identify him as an immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (click on name for more details).
We were left to wonder if he was from the local nest.
Fast forward to a trip out west in early August. My first stop was in Colorado Springs to join my friend Ed, as his guest, at the Air Force Academy Member/Guest Golf Tournament. For those of you who are golf fans it was held at the Eisenhower Golf Club Silver and Blue Courses where the US Girls’ Junior Championship was held a few weeks before. The scenery is breathtaking, the courses were in great shape, and I soon learned that it really matters whether you are putting away from or toward the mountains. Now that I am back in Lowcountry I am really missing the extra 10 to 20 yards that came with the mile high altitude.
During our social gatherings we often ventured out onto the second-floor veranda’s where the club had several Hummingbird feeders hanging.
Here I was treated to swarms of Broad-tailed Hummingbird (thanks to the Merlin app for identifying their call) at each of the feeders.
In addition to these sightings, two other times on the golf course Ed and I had single hummingbirds approach us and hover in front of us for several seconds, almost as if it was waiting to be fed.
Knowing that hummingbirds are very territorial and competitive for access to feeders I was completely surprised to see this behavior, once again a new experience. I had shared my videos and photos with Gina Sanders, and she discovered the following, which likely explains the behavior. The link will provide you with a great video of hummingbird swarming behavior that coincides with their migratory journey. (Click on the picture to access the YouTube video.)
My final experience with a hummingbird came at the end of my trip visiting my family Zach, Janel, and Ada my granddaughter. Janel had done a great job with an array of flowers planted adjacent to their front porch. She had also hung a couple of hummingbird feeders, giving me the opportunity to interact with a beautiful Anna’s Hummingbird, first peeking from behind the feeder and then flying close by for a proper greeting.
As many of you know I am very new to birding but have found belonging to the Seabrook Island Birders club (seabrookislandbirders.org) and spending time with the many expert members and attending great presentations has made me keenly aware of and always on the outlook for all the beautiful, winged creatures we have on our island and in my journeys off the island.
Article and photos submitted by Alan Fink