Migration Madness

Until you see it for yourself you can't imagine the number of hummingbirds in one location.  The homeowner had 50 feeders up and was using 50 lbs of sugar a week during peak migration in August and September!  This video was made on an afternoon in September.  The "hum" was just incredible!

(click on picture to see video)

Mighty Calliope

A phenomenon that has been occurring more and more in recent years is the discovery that "western" hummingbirds that normally breed west of the Mississippi river and winter in Mexico and Central America are coming to the gulf south to winter instead.  I've hosted several birds the last two years.  The little guy featured in this video is a male Calliope hummer -- the smallest North American bird.  He has returned to the same yard in Baton Rouge for 5 years in a row!  On this day he was particularly cooperative and let me get some great video.  Get a load of that tongue! (click on picture to see video)

Male Rufous

This hummer is one of my favorites....  With his rusty coloring and scarlet-gold gorget, he's one of the prettiest of the North-American hummingbirds.  This guy visited a neighbor's yard for at least two years in a row.  I caught him in the middle of his gorget molt, so he looks like of scruffy in the video.

This is one of two Male Rufous that over-wintered in my yard in 06/07.  Each one picked a different part of the yard to defend and guarded their little territory.  They both looked pretty shabby all winter, but boy, in the end, this one spiffed up nicely!

Female Rufous

The female Rufous was my first winter hummingbird, so I feel a certain attachment.  They may be the most common winter hummers around here.  In the winter of 05/06, two female Rufous were banded in my yard...both came back to the area the following year -- one stayed in my yard, one mostly hung out at my neighbor's the Piersons.  How amazing is that-- those tiny birds find their way across a continent to the same place they spent the previous winter!!

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

This is the reason we put feeders up, so we can see the birds up close and personal.  This guy was so fat -- notice the fat at his collarbones and his "pantaloons" that indicate pillows of fat pushing out the feathers near his feet.  I just saw him this one day, and judging by the way he was packing it away, I'd say he was just tanking up for the long trek across the Gulf.