Comments on: Male rufous hummingbird: Ever seen one of these little guys?

By: Darlene Kramer

Darlene Kramer — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:45:54 +0000

I moved to Antioch in January and for the first time saw rufous hummingbirds, male and female in our yard. Two were dead this morning close to our blooming orange tree which right now is buzzing with large black bees. There didn’t seem to be any marks on the birds so I assume they were stung.

By: suzanne

suzanne — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:55:47 +0000

Feeling lucky! We have a lone baned-tail pigeon living near our backyard. We are in Danville along the San Ramon creek. They may be common in SF but when I saw it on my feeder I said “Check out that bird! What is it?” It seems quiet happy with the Steller Jays and Scrub Jays buzzin it, but if we open a door or window to try and take a picture-it’s gone!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:11:30 +0000

Same with mine, Carol, insofar as territory is concerned. They HAVE shared — but that’s about as common as earthquakes and hurricanes hitting my former home in Maryland (like they did this past week).

I enjoy the variety of dives, flight patterns and sounds they make.

Just one feeder actually can provide a lot of entertainment. At my house, one hummingbird rules the roost. (He thinks.) A rookie will fly up to attempt sugar water infringement; and the “owner” chases it off. Then a third appears to get his share of stash, and disappears into oblivion. The macho owner returns not realizing that he has been duped.

And the circle begins again … These little guys are the Blue Angels of the bird world.

By: Carol

Carol — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:46:24 +0000

Barbara:

Thanks for the comment about great photos; however, I can’t take credit ~ my brother in Sammamish, WA took them. Pretty amazing though and great to know that you have seen them in Martinez!! Incidentaly, my brother says the roufus have departed for their southern hang outs and he now has regular Anna’s constantly battling over their two backyard feeders. I don’t have that drama in my backyard; one keeps to one feeder; the other keeps to another feeder. How boring, right?

By: Gary

Gary — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:31:13 +0000

The past few summers, we’ve seen a male rufous occasionally visit our feeder in the west hills of Dublin. The male Anna’s that defends the feeder never seems to try to chase him off. I guess he’s learned from experience.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:28:30 +0000

Actually I have seen them a few instances in Martinez, Carol. (BTW, great photos!)

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:40:36 +0000

We saw a few of these during a visit to San Juan Capistrano this summer. They are pretty zippy!