Quote from John Adams on 09/24/2024, 10:18 AM

Barry - and Everyone - Good Morning from southern West Virginia!

Hummingbirds are such angry birds!  I only have the Ruby-throated at my feeders, but all the males do is fight.  The females and juveniles do not seem to fight as much.  Have you - or has anyone else - noticed that?   I have 2 feeders within my wife's flower garden.  She has planted red flowers to attract hummingbirds and they do use them.  She told me that just about every time she works in the flower garden in July and August, at least one male buzzes her - and gets pretty close.  And then will fly a giant 'U' right in front of her.  I did watch from our kitchen window and saw the male doing it.  Has anyone ever seen anything like that?  And what about other species of hummingbirds - are they this aggressive?  John

Quote from Bearmail on 09/24/2024, 2:00 PM

Hi John,

I have not noticed in our Ruby throated the 'giant U' behavior... but we don't have a garden and are not in the yard to speak of.  And being in central IL, I can't comment on any other species - ruby throats are all we got.  but I do notice that we have just as much competition in the females/juveniles though...as mentioned in my original post = all h'birds.  Barry

Quote from Carol Smith on 09/27/2024, 10:42 AM

Speaking of hummingbirds...  All summer we've had Biennial Gaura growing at the corner of our deck.  If you are not familiar with this plant, it is tall, stiff and has stalks sticking straight out from the stem.  It reminds me of a Christmas tree that has lost all its needles.  The flowers only open in the morning and are small, white and sparse, with a pinkish tinge as they age.  All in all, not a particularly attractive plant.  For several days in a row we noticed a hummingbird landing on one, perhaps resting before sipping nectar on our many Great Blue Lobelia plants which are a favorite for them late in the season.  One day, not thinking of the tiny bird, I decided to cut the ugly, dead-looking plants down.  The following day the hummingbird came back and noticeably looked for her favorite perch.  I felt bad.  I won't be cutting them down early next season no matter how bad they look.

Quote from Linda Spence on 09/28/2024, 7:21 AM

Carol, I know exactly how you feel!  We have a wonderful conservation district in the county north of us where Cleon and I spend time walking the trails and doing some volunteer work.  Driving into one of the areas and towards the parking lot, there was a tree with a branch that grew out over the edge of the road.  And for two years, we often saw a Yellow-breasted Chat on that branch.  Chats are not common here in central Illinois and for Cleon and I to see on anywhere is a real treat.  We loved seeing this bird!  And then that part of the grassland was renovated and the tree was cut down.  We never saw that bird again.

There is a lesson here for all of us.  Carol's single plant and the tree I talked about are hardly 'habitats', but they were important to the 2 birds that used them - and probably used them daily.  We human beings have yards, we manage parks, we farm.  All of us make decisions every day that affect every living creature (including plants) that are around us.  We should not become paraylzed or afraid to make decisions, just be more thoughtful.  We just need to be aware and consider - is what we are doing or planning to do worth the price a creature or plant will pay?  These two examples are good ones of things that probably did not need to happen.  Carol posted that she did not need to remove that plant and the conservation district did not need to cut down that tree.  Carol, I thank you for reminding all of us that we all have a responsibility to think before we act - too often we forget that.  Linda