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UPDATE 8/16/16: My friend Melanie Votaw, who is an expert on hummingbirds, says this looks like a female. “Males have red on the throat,” she says. “The only kind of hummingbird in the eastern U.S. is the ruby throat. (Occasionally, a rogue comes in from the west, but this looks like a ruby throat.) Young males take a while to show the red, but there are usually at least some little hints of red by now in the throat area.” So I’ve amended my story below and changed the “he” to a “she.” Thanks, Mel.
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I see these videos on Facebook of hundreds of hummers swarming feeders, vying for a space to get their fill. That’s not what happens outside my window. I have one little hummingbird that comes along, usually around dusk.
But no matter, because she’s awfully cute and sometimes even stays long enough to let me grab the camera and focus (it’s a challenge). Here’s a couple more photos of my little girl. Her tiny little feet crack me up.
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Looks like a little girl.
Really? How do you know the difference? If you click through to the story, there’s a couple other close-ups.
Males have red on the throat. The only kind of hummingbird in the eastern U.S. is the ruby throat. (Occasionally, a rogue comes in from the west, but this looks like a ruby throat.) Young males take a while to show the red, but there are usually at least some little hints of red by now in the throat area.
Ah – thanks. I will amend my story.
I linked to your hummingbird book – is that ok? This one ok to use? http://amzn.to/2aZt1sx
Actually, I’d rather you didn’t. Long story. This book has my name on it but isn’t my writing. They rewrote my original book called “Hummingbirds: Jewels On Air” without telling me and put my name on it. It has mistakes in it, and I WAS NOT HAPPY. It caused a big rift with my publisher.
Oy. Ok – won’t link.
This is my book, but it’s out of print. So, you can only get it on eBay these days. Not many left in circulation. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hummingbirds-by-Melanie-Votaw-2003-Hardcover-/182232399683?hash=item2a6de5bf43:g:fD0AAOSwbYZXWdkx
Should I link to that one?
You could, but it’s only one copy on eBay. I learned that this is one of the perils of signing a “work-made-for-hire” contract with a publisher. I was new to the industry, so I had no idea.
Ok. Won’t link. Yeah, I think every writer has those early stories.
She sure is a beautiful little bird.
Did you put some ice in his feed water to slow hem down? So you could get a good photo? He He nice photo.
Lol. Just changed the water from the tepid, ant-ridden stuff that was in there previously. Sometimes she’ll sit for a few seconds and feed. Her tiny feet crack me up.
I had a hummingbird on my finger in Jamaica, and you can barely feel them. They have almost no weight.
That’s cool. I keep trying to coax the chickadees over to seed in my hand. No luck so far, but I’ll keep working on it. Tim got tired of holding the camera today. 🙂
It might work eventually. Some of the birds in Central Park have become tame. A friend of mine used to have a red-winged blackbird eat out of her hand, and a titmouse once lit on my hand.
I’ve had hummingbirds sit on my finger while at the feeder. It takes patience and a BRAVE bird. My problem is that I got a bird to do this pretty quickly, so, I thought I was a genius, but I’ve found it much harder after that with different birds in different years.
I have a helmet that’s a feeder, but I haven’t yet had occasion to use it. Someday!
That’s really cool.
Great photo!
Thanks, Ray!
Great shot! I had one at the hanging basket outside my office window this afternoon — such a treat. Taking a photo like this would be a thrill.
cool shot!
Great shot, Jane!
[…] Thanks to our Old Mission Gazette readers, we determined that she’s a she (not a he, as previously noted), and sometimes she likes to perch on the […]