DJ Geribo

The Hummingbirds, that is! About two weeks ago I saw the first one. I had just put the small tube feeder out. The males always come in first - I imagine the females are on the nest because I never see them until after the first chicks are born. And now I saw two males dancing around the feeder so I thought it was time to put the big feeder out. As soon as I put it out and I was turning to go into the house, a male swooped in and sat on it. It was as if he was telling me that he knew the feeder was for him. 

The chicks are adorable when they hatch. They claim a feeder as their own and chase the others away from it. It seems more like playing than possessing. The chasing seems to be all in good fun. We have seen territorial behavior in Hummingbirds, too, where one will relentlessly attack another until they fly off. I guess there are no boundaries when it comes to protecting your food source. 

Although there are more than 300 different Hummingbird species in the world and we only have one type of Hummingbird in the Northeast, we love our Ruby Throated Hummingbirds and look forward to their arrival every year.