Sunday musings: The Hummingbird Wars
I thought I was doing a good thing. My mom always talks about her bird feeders and how amazing and delightful her little hummingbirds are. They are so darn cute and teensy! How do they do that: all that hovering and flying backwards? They zoom around my back yard now. High speed aerial drag races. But all is not well in bird land.
I need to check if maybe the heat has turned their nectar into moonshine. Either these little critters are drunk, or I have attracted the dysfunctional wing of this feathered airforce.
It started a few days back. One miniscule bully with bright green belly feathers has decided this nectar booty is his. He perches on my nectarine tree 30 feet from the feeder and just watches, his green feathers making him nearly invisible.
A very amiable gold-feathered hummingbird, my first visitor to the feeder weeks ago, tries to sneak a sip of the ambrosia floating in the air. And ZOOOOOOM! In comes Greeney, cackling and buzzing the hapless intruder.
I am not happy. I had visions of hordes of tiny, sweet, happy little birds flocking to my hummingbird feeder, all getting along and delighted at the prospect of food in the middle of a hot Phoenix desert. Nooooo. That’s not how it works.
People I’ve talked with say that this zooming and battling is normal behavior. Apparently the little buggers are cute, but real fighters: the Chihuahuas of the bird world. Maybe there is such a thing as a Napoleon complex in critters, too!
One source says these aerodynamic marvels have heartrates of up to 1,260 beats per minute! No wonder they hum – their little motor is cranking out rpms faster than Jeff Gordon’s best NASCAR run! That explains their dedication to finding fuel at all costs.
And it turns out that other birds think something’s up with this fuel. They probably gossip around the birdbath about the drugs in the elusive clear and red feeders. There must be magic in that nectar the hummingbirds crave.
One very industrious little finch has tried for three days to drink from the feeder. He perches on a branch near by and, in a testament to perseverance, gamely flaps his wings as hard as he can and speeds toward the feeder. No luck. He can’t sustain the lift.
I’ve watched him try this for half an hour at a time. My pastor’s daughter heart wants to go and put a perch there for him. But I know the little hummingbirds would just peck him to death if they thought he could steal their sweet treat.
The lesson here? Let nature take its course. It just is what it is.
Hey – Go take some time for yourself today.
See you tomorrow!
Beth and the crazy hummingbirds
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Beth Terry, CSP
Professional Speaker and Author
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©2007 Beth Terry Seminars, Inc
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