Hummingbird Observation

[Dan]

Ha!  Do I get a prize for authoring the first post?

Just sharing an observation about hummingbirds at my feeders.   Bullying - not a new problem.   What I wanted to share was the "how", as it is new to me.   I have one hummer that watches one of my feeders from a perch about 30 yards away.  When he sees any other hummer at "his" feeder - he swoops down to chase off the invading marauder.   Here is the interesting part to me - after his act of bullying he returns to the EXACT SAME perch.  A tiny 12 inch long dead twig hanging off another larger branch in a 4 story tall pine tree.  He has been doing this for over a week. 

And it is a positional thing, not that he likes that particular feeder.   When I move the original feeder about 6 feet away, and replace it with a different feeder in the same spot - he doesn't guard the old feeder (now in a new location a few feet away), he now guards the new feeder.  He just likes whatever feeder I put in that particular spot. 

Maybe I just need to get a life ... 

Edited July 31, 2018 by Dan

[Charlie Spencer]

I've seen hummers (and other birds) develop preferences for perches.  They may use a perch for several days or a couple of weeks, then move to another.

[tclarkwood]

Interesting that you just posted about Hummers since I watched them this past weekend at my mother's home.   She has 7 of them that are emptying the feeder about every other day.  What I observed is that there are 6 females and 1 male and the females rule the roost!  I noticed that the most dominant one is not the largest one as you might expect. I get a kick out of how much they "fuss" at one another with so many vocalizations as they are fighting over position.  Towards the end of the day, the dominant one finally gets tired of being dominant and they all get to feed.  They are so much fun to watch and I never get tired of it.  

Thanks Whatbird for bringing this discussion forum back!   

[DaveOl]

I've got the same problem.  There is a male hummingbird that swoops down from a tree branch about 20 feet from the feeder to chase off another male that attempts to feed.  There is a female that feeds at it and I have to assume that it is the bullying male's mate.

[Bird Brain]

I have 3 feeders.....1 each at the front, side, and back of the house. The dominant Anna's male here tries to control the back feeder and another one tries to control the front. Right now I have more Hummers around than I can count, with the resident Anna's and migrant Black-chinneds and all their offspring of the year all wanting to feed! My best guess is somewhere between 12 to 20 Hummers around. It's a constant battle, with 3 or 4 feeding from the same feeder(s) at a time until the male comes swooping in and tries to chase them all off. Then it's a free-for-all!! It's fun to watch them, and if I happen to be out by a feeder they buzz by close enough to feel the wind from their wings.

I'm having to fill the back feeder daily, and the other 2 every 1-1/2 to 2 days. They're very entertaining to watch, to say the least!

[Kerri]

I have observed two male ruby throated hummingbirds fight until they both tumbled to the ground and then they continued to wrestle around on the ground. Must be exhausting lol! I have one tree that I can view from my window so I put a  humming bird feeder on each side the main trunk up close that way sometimes they don't see each other since they come at the feeder from opposite sides of the tree. I too can watch these little beauties all day.