The Nemesis Bird » hummingbirds

Anna’s Hummingbird chirps with its tail

Drew — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:59:00 +0000

There is a story on BBCNews.com currently reporting on the finding that Anna’s Hummingbirds chirp with their tail. Using high speed video, some researchers were able to see the male’s tail feathers vibrating during their display flights. These display flights are exceptional because they can reach 50 mph in a dive to impress nearby females and it is this high speed dive that causes the vibrations.

Click here to watch the video of the display flight and here is the link to the story.

In other hummingbird news, two 30-million old fossils from Germany are the oldest known hummingbirds. One interesting part of this find is that they are in the Old World while hummingbirds only occur in the Americas. It is thought that these ancient hummingbirds may have helped determine the shape of African and Asian plant species

Finally a Rufous!

Drew — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:50:00 +0000

Number 266 for my Pennsylvania list, the female Rufous Hummingbird I was able to see in Berks County this past week was a delight. When I first arrived at the house that it has been frequenting for about a month now, the hummingbird was nowhere to be seen. I was treated to a lovely overview of its habits and daily routine and I was promised that it would appear soon. And all of a sudden it did, she was sitting on one of several butterfly bushes the property owner had around the yard. I rushed to the window and was treated to a fantastic view of it sitting on the bush, then it flew to the feeder and I was able to watch it quite a while there.

female Rufous Hummingbird

I was able to sneak outside and digiscope it a few times, but the lighting was dismal and the bird was playing hide and seek behind the butterfly bush leaves. Nevertheless, you can see the orange on the hummingbird’s flanks. Below is a shot that is a tad better of the bird’s face.

As far as I know, this is the 8th or 9th Rufous Hummingbird in Pennsylvania this fall. Keep your feeders out because there could still be some more coming through and there is always the chance of something exotic like a Green-breasted Mango or a Green Violet-ear.

More Arizona pictures

Drew — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:40:00 +0000

Juniper Titmouse @ Grand Canyon National Park

Black-headed Grosbeak @ Grand Canyon National Park

Broad-billed Hummingbird @ Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum

Barn Owl @ Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum

Anna’s Hummingbird @ Madera Canyon

Arizona pics

Drew — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 10:23:00 +0000

So almost 2 months ago I was in Arizona for my honeymoon. We stayed in Sedona for a while enjoying the scenic canyons and visiting the Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks. I did not manage any digiscoping on that part of the trip but we then went to SE Arizona for a few days and I did much better then. This White-eared Hummingbird was phonescoped thru my binoculars. It is amazing what one can do now with the availability of cameras everywhere. I am just waiting for the day when I find a rarity and can send the picture to a group of people moments after seeing it for verification and notification.

White-eared Hummingbird- Miller Canyon

I was able to take this shot at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum of a female Broad-billed Hummingbird sitting on her nest. It was right next to the walkway and allowed quite close views. In my experience, it seems that females are quite approachable when on the nest.

Broad-billed Hummingbird- Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Those of you who live in se. Arizona are truly lucky when it comes to hummingbird variety. We were lucky enough to find 11 species of hummingbird with the highlights being 2 White-eared Hummingbirds, Lucifer Hummingbird, and Violet-crowned Hummingbirds. I digiscoped this gorgeous male Broad-billed Hummingbird coming to the feeders at Santa Rita Lodge in Madera Canyon.

Broad-billed Hummingbird- Santa Rita Lodge

Acorn Woodpeckers were also a treat to see in Madera Canyon. They reminded me a bit of Red-headed Woodpeckers back east with their flashy white patches against all the dark. It was fun watching such a communal bird storing acorns in holes they made all over the place.

Acorn Woodpecker- Santa Rita Lodge

For the trip we managed 163 species with 70 of them being lifers for me. It will be hard for me to ever do a trip in the ABA region and get that many lifers again, maybe even impossible.

Natty Geo Hummingbirds

Drew — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 14:39:00 +0000

The last National Geographic has a great article on hummingbirds with some of the most beautiful hummingbird photographs I have ever seen. Apparently, these hummingbirds are captured, carried to the photographers SUV which is equipped with flowers and proceeds to photograph them. The goal is to document all the species of hummingbirds in order to better conserve them.

To see more photos as well as videos click on the Steely-vented Hummingbird above.