Humming Bird Wars

The other night I was sitting outside under our pergola and reading when I noticed that there were quite a few hummingbirds. They were attracted to our feeder and I could not only hear their wing beats, but I could also hear their chirps, (I recently got my hearing aids repaired and refitted). There were at least six of them and they were fighting over possession of the feeder. One fight was especially viscous as one, attacked the other and forced it down to the cement floor. It did this by stabbing the less dominant bird with its beak.

Its not the first time we have seen this happen, last year we even found a dead humming bird after witnessing one such fight. That time the winner stood on top of the bird and repeatedly stabbed it with its beak.

We also have another feeder and this one is guarded by a hummer we have named the sentinel. He sits on top and attacks any other hummer that tries to feed.

The biggest fight we have watched this year involved twelve of these birds in what could best be described as a dogfight! I did not get a picture of that one but the best fight picture I have is of four displaying their feathers while a fifth one was eating on the other side of the feeder. Thank goodness the birds are so small. I would hate to be attacked by a flock of the little dinosaurs, (birds are descendants of dinosaurs). They should soon start their migration and the violence, here anyway, will stop. Clear skies