Hummingbirds: The Angels of Birds
Hummingbirds are the cutest littlest creatures
Hummingbirds are the tiniest, cutest, daintiest birds around. They remind me of little Angels.
They are amazing! Why? Because they are tiny. They speed through the air and if you miss them you think a dragon fly just flew past you.
At first I wasn't very interested in them. My husband changed that for me.He's the one I owe the honors of introducing me to these magnificent creatures. He took these pictures of one that came to visit us and I would like to share them with you and tell you everything I learned about them. I'm not an expert on them but the little bit I'm doing seems to work and I'm happy with that.
This is a Ruby Red Throat Male.
Just landed on the Feeder
We were lucky to capture this hummingbirds little wings as he sat upon the feeder. Nectar feeders are the most common way to attract hummingbirds. Besides flowers such as bleeding hearts, columbine, impatiens, honeysuckle, cannas and many others. They don't have to be RED flowers either. Just anything with Sweet Nectar.
I planted some of these flowers underneath and around my feeders so they can enjoy all.
Discription of the male Ruby Red Throat and female Hummingbird
Average Length : 3.5 inches
Average Weight : 1/8 ounce
Wing Beats : 40-80 per second
Flight Speed : 30-63 mph
Adult Male : Emerald Green back, iridescent ruby red throat-might appear black in certain lighting, forked tail, gray flanks and is smaller than the female.
Adult Female : Emerald green back, white breast and throat, rounded tail with white tips. Larger than the male and has a longer beak.
When they are sitting on the feeder to feed you can take a picture or even a video. Sometimes you can get pretty close to them.
They do fight with other hummers. Protecting their feeder. If you get too close they will swarm at you also. Thinking they can scare you away like they do other hummingbirds.
Flying in for the Feed
These adorable, little critters are VERY Territorial! Once they find a feeder they like, they won't let other hummers join. They make a little chirping sound, almost sound like a pack of little mice squealing while they are fighting each other. Then when they have warded off their rivals the dominant one will pick a bush or tree near by and perch on it while watching over the feeder. They will go after or attack any Bee's, other hummer's or anything else for that matter, that might get near the feeder. I've also seen them go after Larger birds. Just because they are little, they are by no means afraid of very much.
How to make Hummingbird Nectar
- 1 part white sugar
- 4 parts water
Instructions
- Boil water, take off stove
- Stir in Sugar, let stand to cool
- Pour into hummingbird feeder
- Note: Boiling the water will purify it of all chemicals and bacteria. Do not add sugar substitutes or honey, molasses, brown sugar.
How to keep Ants off Feeders and/or pole
This works pretty good, the ants slip all over the place and can't crawl upwards.
Use vegetable oil.
Dab some vegetable oil on a rag or paper towel (don't go to sparingly) and rub all over the pole. If not using a pole then rub it on the hanging chain of the feeder. If putting it on the feeders chain then you might want to go a little sparingly because you don't want the oil to drip onto the feeder were the Hummers eat, you don't want any oil to get into the food or on the Hummers feathers.
Also included my Video of how I raised Baby Robin birds - I know these aren't Humming birds but I just had to share this with you
4 baby Robin birds were left in their nest a couple days after hatching.
Don't know where the parents went or why they never came back. I couldn't bare the thought of leaving those helpless babies alone so I started feeding them. I took care of them for about 5 weeks or so. I got to watch them as they got the courage to fly out of their nest one by one. From the Largest I assume was the oldest, first baby hatched.
The oldest and biggest of the babies along with the second biggest showed the other two what to do.
This included fetching for worms and insects. I was very proud of these babies since they did everything for themselves. Except for the in between feeding I gave them before they got a little older.
They got used to me because as they got older they would venture a little farther away from the nest each day. But when it was time for me to feed them I would call them ( chip-chip-chippy) and they would come flying to me right away, landing right at my feet. One day my neighbor came over to visit my husband and we were in the back yard. When I called for the birds and they came flying, my neighbor was amazed. He said he never seen anything like it.
© 2011 Ramona
