Hummers!

I finally gave in and installed a hummingbird feeder in my backyard. I wasn't hesitating out of lack of interest--I've been bird-watching as a hobby for decades. I suppose it was the result of a sort of inertia, waiting until I knew what was going to happen with the vet school project.

Now that I've decided to stay here in Oregon (daily proving to be a good decision), I've also decided to stay put in the same house I've been renting for the past two years. The rent is rather high, the house is old, it has no AC, and the heating sources in the winter are expensive. These are compensated by two important things: I feel like the amount of space is just right, and the fenced part of the yard is enormous, a luxury in a rental house. Of course, the latter implies regular mowing duties, which in the Pacific NW begin in February, but the dogs just love all that space to run around and play.

Back to the point. I feel a bit more settled now. So I put up a hummingbird feeder.

In Texas, I had only one species of hummer visit my feeder: ruby-throated. The challenge there was to identify the number of mated pairs that visited. Here, I have FIVE species that frequent my feeder. Taking into consideration the males and females of each, you are potentially looking at ten variations on little, busy, buzzy, greenish birds to identify. 

To keep the feeder in shade as long as possible, I mounted it across the yard in a location that is visible from my kitchen window and back door. I keep a pair of binoculars and a bookmarked copy of Peterson's handy. 

So far I have definitively identified male and female black-chinned hummers, male and female Anna's hummers, male rufous hummers (they are the most shy of all the species), male Allen's hummers, female Allen's/rufous hummers (can't be distinguished in the field but I probably have both since I've seen males of both species), and most exciting of all, a female Calliope hummer. I've not seen her mate. Maybe he keeps watch while she feeds. She visits every day so I suspect he's around, just shy/vigilant. 

Calliopes are the smallest North American hummers and described as "uncommon". The first time I saw the female, I wasn't entirely sure of the identification. But after weeks of observation, there is no doubt that at least one Calliope female is visiting my feeder. She is significantly smaller than the other species, so small that her wingtips extend past her tail feathers when she is at rest, and she has to stretch from the perch to reach the feeder.

My little flock maintains regular feeding hours but there is never really a crowd and none of them seems to guard the feeder. I see birds land every few minutes throughout the day, with rush hours at dawn and dusk, but rarely see more than one at a time. Lots of people in this area put up feeders (for example, my next-door neighbor has one hanging outside his living room windows) so I think we can assume that resources aren't terribly limited for them. 

The species spatially segregate. The black-chinned hummers always approach from and leave in the same direction while the Anna's males arrive and depart from another direction. I can now usually tell which species is arriving simply from the direction of their approach!

Except for the rufous males, the birds have become quite bold, even cheeky. They check out the dogs all the time, and often perch in the forsythia inches above a dog stretched out in the grass napping in the sun. I did have to work a bit with Azza to convince her not to chase the hummers the same way she chases bees and moths and such. She's been very good and now barely lifts an eyebrow as they buzz right over her head.

Sorry, no pictures. No camera in my possession can take pictures of such small birds from such a distance.