So, we’ve had the big dogs in skies (the Eagles), and those that like a slow paddle in calm water (the Coots), so it only seems fitting that we have a post on the little dudes and dudettes that are constantly going about a 100 miles per hour.
You guessed it, today’s featured bird is the Hummingbird. Out here in the Midwest (more affectionately called the Midtundra at the moment) we do not have a lot of variety when it comes to these birds so they are pretty easy to identify. In fact it is ridiculously easy because a quick review of the Stokes reference manual confirms there is only ONE that frequents our area – most prefer to spend their time out in Texas or Central America – Guess catching that Black-Chinned Hummingbird in Vegas was a score (link here) seeing how that is the only other one I’ve really had a chance to check off. Since this is from our backyard feeder (actually back porch feeder), we proudly introduce the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.
This isn’t a new bird to the Blog – it actually appeared back in Oct 2012 (link here), so this doesn’t result in a check. It does give me the chance to talk a little bit about a bird with some interesting characteristics. First of all, the Ruby part of the name is VERY apparent when they choose to show it. As you can see in the two males above can hide that coloring and instead show a more boring darker chin. Not sure if this is a choice they have or if there is some specific angle that really reveals it – wait, getting lazy, let me check that. So it is all about the angle of the light – there ya go. Unfortunately, this set of shots must have had bad lighting since none of them really show that bright ruby color. You can see a little of it below.
Hit the jump to read a little more about these birds and view a few more intriguing shots
Wildlife Intrigued 