The Cornell Lab Bird Academy › Discussion Groups › The Wonderful World of Hummingbirds › What Makes a Hummingbird a Hummingbird
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I have to say that I own the Princeton guide to Hummingbird so I am familiar with many of the topics covered in the first part of this course. But having an animated explanation of how iridescence works is extremely useful. It works better, I think, than static images on a page. It also helps explain why some hummers are just so vivid, amazing!
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On the East Coast only the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds come and visit my garden and my feeder. However, when we winter on the Pacific Coast we often see Anna's and an occasional Rufus or Allen passes through. I would love to see a Calliope.
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I think a little Anna's just came to inspect me as I sit here in my garden watching this course in Los Angeles, CA.
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In Colombia, where I live, every morning I hear the sound of fighting rufous tailed hummingbirds and black throated mangos as I eat breakfast. I also have had the chance to see rufous breasted hermits, white necked jacobins, sparkling violetears, indigo capped hummingbirds, pale bellied hermits, and a bird I think was the black inca.
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I live in Woodbine Georgia where there are ruby throated hummers! They come to my feeders by the windows each morning to say hello and drink the sugar water I make for them. I have "Mexican Cigar plants" (Cuphea) under the window for tasting, too.
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I live in Bethlehem, Pa where my husband and I are enjoying daily sightings of the Ruby Throated Hummingbird. This year I added another hummingbird feeder (makes 2) and a plant, called Honeybells, in a hanging planter. This is my first time watching the hummingbird move from flower to flower searching for the nectar. I see this quite often but continue to be amazed when it is sighted on the plant or drinking from the hummingbird feeders. It never gets old! :)
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I live in Mid-Michigan and we get the Ruby Throated Hummingbird here. I love the way they zip by you and impatiently wait for the feeder to be filled. I have a male that loves to hang out and sleep on the fence around the dog yard. I would love a trip to an area of South America where I could see several species.
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I live in Holland, so we don't have any hummingbirds. Last year my wife and me went for a trip to Costa Rica. When we saw our first hummingbird we were completely hooked! It was a Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, in fact the most common species in CR. It flew very fast and before you could realise it was gone. There were some Verbenas, plants who attract a lot of hummers. Every now and then the birds were not flying, so we could observe them quite well. Later on we saw several species of hummingbird, such as the White-necked Jacobin, the Scaly-breasted Hummingbird and the Band-tailed Barbthroat. Magnificent to watch all these colorful gems at very close range. When we got into the mountains we watched also the Talamanca Hummingbird and the Vulcano Hummingbird. The last one was nearly blown out of the sky by a harsh wind and a shower. So the bird landed, just in front of me. That was an amazing, close encounter. We also tried to find and to watch the Snowcap, but we did not succeed. So we have to go back once!
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I live in the South Puget Sound of Washington State and here we have the Anna and the Rufous! I'm lucky enough to have the company of the Anna Hummingbird year round and the Rufous during the summer months. We have witnessed several mating ceremonies and get dive bombed quite often when things get fired up between those lil birds. It's not uncommon for the Female Anna Hummingbirds to sit on my garden gate and watch me inquisitively as I go about my business. We provide several "strategically" placed feeders (that get cleaned regularly & have homemade sugar water) to try to make everyone happy. We also plant as many native flowers as possible and we sure do appreciate how those lil pollinators help out our garden! Originally from the Northeast I am familiar with the Ruby throated hummingbird as well.
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Hummingbirds (Ruby throated) visit our garden here in southern Ontario daily - they seem to love the Monarda and Crocosmia. The females tend to stay longer, visiting a few areas of the garden and perching on adjacent tree limbs, while the male zips in and away very quickly. Love them!
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I live in England, no hummingbirds here, but I have been lucky to visit Costa Rica, Brazil and Colombia where I have seen many hummingbirds. The first time I saw one- in Costa Rica - I thought it was an insect flying past me. I love all birds, and many visit my back garden, but I really am fascinated by hummingbirds - amazing birds. I have hummingbirds on my curtains to remind me of them.
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I have only seen ruby throated hummingbirds, here in Ohio. Once when visiting Mackinac Island, MI, I came upon a field of jewelweed. I stopped to pop a couple of seed pods and then I heard a buzzing. Dozens and dozens of hummingbirds! It was fantastic. I hope to travel to South America to discover more species.
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We are lucky to have Anna's Hummingbirds all year in Southern Oregon! I provide feeders for them year round.
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I often see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at my home in Minnesota. I've also seen Anna's Hummingbirds (and maybe others?) when I visited family in Southern California.
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I had a chance to see this Anna's taking flight while at the Kenneth Hahn State Recreational Park (Los Angeles, California) in May 2023. I was lucky to see him flash his gorget.
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I have seen several species of hummers, ruby- throated (at my feeders New Bern NC; Broad-billed, (my daughters' Lewis CO.);Anna's, (New Bern NC) ;Black-chinned,( Lewis CO.); Broad-tailed(Basque del Apache); Rufous (Moorehead City NC). I have visited Costa Rica but didn't know enough to ID or record..big mistake! Last year we had a hummer feeder by our front door but raccoons removed it every night! So we stopped using it.This spring, hummers returned to the front door, presumably looking for the feeder. We didn't put a feeder out. Just this week I hung a feeder under a seed feeder at the kitchen window..within one day, hummers came to that feeder. ?? Memory to return to a known location. ?? how did they discover the newest feeder so quickly??
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I feel fortunate to live in Southern Arizona and see numerous species of hummingbirds. One of my favorite hummingbirds is the Violet Crowned hummingbird that I photographed at the Paton Center for Hummingbirds in Patagonia, Arizona.
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Great photograph!
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Nice shot Peggy! I live in Pima County, AZ and have also seen the Violet-Crowned at the Paton Center. My daily backyard visitors are the Costa's and the Broad-Billed.
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Yes I have. First time I saw a hummingbird I felt in love of these beatiful birds
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Absolutely gorgeous!
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Are those your photos?
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I see Anna's Hummingbirds everyday in Seattle, WA even in the snow! I've also see Rufous during migration. I've even gotten to hold a few Anna's when helping them out of the house or in this case (pics included) when a male Anna's hit my window. I picked him, put him in a safe place, offered him some nectar from his feeder and after a short time he zoomed off to a tree branch nearby.
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I placed Acopian BirdSavers on my windows to prevent (larger) birds from flying into them. I didn't realize, although it makes sense, that hummers would make this mistake also. Here's the link from the American Bird Conservancy... https://abcbirds.org/acopian-birdsavers/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzby1BhCQARIsAJ_0t5PDxxNCz3HrcBr9F_daomKPYKpG2r4IqApdVzTrwbigELAGfgs8G_MaAlvxEALw_wcB I made my own out of paracord....I had at least one bird/week flying into a window, but not one casualty since placing these....
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Living in Central NJ, there are many ruby throated hummingbirds in the area. I have seen them at my feeders, as well as in the wild in local parks. I have placed feeders at myn home for many years and I do enjoy seeing and hearing them come and go.
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I live in the SF Bay Area in Northern California. Our front yard is a native-plant garden; hummingbirds love the flowers, particularly the California Fuchsias. I've spotted Rufous Hummingbrids (photo) a few times, but see smaller green hummers (probably Anna's) every day. I love going out in the garden and hearing their 'zap zap' sounds.
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I live in Sandy Valley, Nevada and have created a pollinator habitat to attract Hummingbirds, Bees and Butterflies. The hummingbirds most common here are the Anna's & Costa's. Once in a while maybe a Rufous, if I'm lucky. In the higher mountains I see the Black Chinned. At the farm, we set feeders and the Anna's stay year round. They're not afraid of humans, in fact they'll follow me around the farm while I do my chores. And when I'm stationed in place, they'll sometimes perch 3 or so feet watching me. I like to think they're thanking me for feeding them or maybe its time to change the juice.
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I have the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds that visit my yard here in Southern Ohio. I see more females at my feeders than males but put this little swing between 2 feeders and was able to get a picture of this little guy the other day.
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I took this Costa's Hummingbird photo on a vacation to the Sonoran desert. It was the middle of May, so isn't it a little odd to be seeing this in New Mexico in Summer? I thought they moved to cooler climates around this time?
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I have a pair of hummingbirds in my yard and I believe the same pair come back each year. Is that possible? Early in the season, the male and female eat at different times. Now (mid July), the male perches on a limb close to the feeder and when the female comes near, he chases her away. I love watching them.
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