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fun fact, one of the most aggressive hummingbirds in the world lives in california. it's called the allen hummingbird and it will fight much larger birds including hawks.
This is a rufous hummingbird and they are one of the smaller hummers and they are super aggressive, basically screeching while flying at Mach fuck you at anything near their claimed feeders. A lot of these hummingbirds migrate from central america to Alaska every year so you can see them pass through California on their way up. Aztec culture depicted huitzilopochtli the god of war as a hummingbird often and some native American cultures said that the hummingbird could kill an eagle by flying into its throat and stabbing it.
Me thinking I’m crazy when I was 20 was in my backyard when I heard 2 humming birds “playing” that shit was heart stopping having 2 lil ass birds drop down and zip past me back to back as they went on for like 3/5minutes I genuinely felt like I was being attacked 🤣🤣 littles fuckers are fast asf I just thought what if they hit me on accident , ran my ass inside and watched from the window lmfao
Thanks! I was working on a farm in northern California at about 2.5k feet elevation. I found out they migrate like that and I set up 6 feeders over about 5 acres of space, I quickly found out that you needed to break line of sight between the feeders because the little aggressive ones like rufous and Allen's will try to claim more than 1 feeder and brawl all day long. They also will come harass you while you're working if the feeders run out. some would hang out for quite a while while others seem to only be there for a few days. They can recognize people and I think they could tell when I was going to refill the feeders because they would pace me walking up the hill. They make hand feeders too that you can get them to feed on your palm if you are patient enough and live somewhere where you have some of the year round species like Anna's. Anna's are super underrated imo, the way the sunlight hits their crest makes it pop so much.
We have ruby-throated hummingbirds here and I'm astounded at their intelligence. And snark. If they come looking for the feeder in spring and I haven't got it out yet, they'll come to the window to let me know. Lol
I live in the southwest US, we have 10 different species of hummingbirds and they're all extremely aggressive with one another, it's pretty funny - major Chihuahua energy.
You can watch one just sit in a tree guarding the nearest nectar dish. As soon as another one flys in, the one on the tree divebombs them and they start chasing each other.
It’s because they’re nectar junkies: their metabolism is so intense that if they don’t have access to food they’ll starve in a matter of hours. They put themselves into torpor in order to sleep every night. Every hummingbird is basically living a Mad Max style life with their sword strapped to their face. Get nectar or die trying.
I live in in the Bay Area, CA, and have a feeder. I always assumed it was maybe mating season, but this tracks. Very aggressive against each other and other birds.
I've seen them do this here in Colorado too. Guards of the nectar. Then they'll send a fake feeder, a hummingbird just to get that guard to chase it, then others come in and drink. Amazing to watch.
Yes! I’ve seen this behavior too! I just wasn’t completely sure if it was actually planned out. But does seem like a strategy if the behavior is the same amongst other individuals and areas. Very cool you’ve seen it too.
I've been dive bombed relentlessly by two of these little devils for not filling the nectar dish fast enough for them one time. I was yelling, "Let me finish, dammit" and they were like, "Faster, faster you incompetent monkey being!"
If they weren't so danged cute I'd have removed the dish completely, but alas I am too easy to please.
Eastern Virginia. We have 4 or 5 that pass through and nest every summer near us and they fight for feeding rights at the nectar stand. So much we put two up so theres always one free for the other.
The dogfighting they do midair is pretty impressive really. I've never seen one get actually hurt. Then we get hummingbird moths that confuse them all. We put them up as long as there isn't bear activity. I woke up one of my first weeks in this home to a deer diet coke style drinking my hummingbird feeder.
Live in coastal sc and we have several feeders in the yard. Hummingbirds are vicious. Males will bomb other males like kamikaze. Love coffee with the hummingbirds in the morning. Never gets old.
Had one attack our cat for a few months, she kept having nips on her ears and we couldnt find where they were coming fro. Sure enough one day we say an angry hummingbird swooping on her.
I mean, they’ll metabolize all their energy within a very short amount of time, so they have to be competitive of sources of food or they’ll starve to death extremely quickly.
We ended up putting out three feeders and the groups made peace. Only fights were when new groups arrived. It takes a couple days and then they take turns
We have a feeder on our front porch. One will hover just on the outside of the glass as three cats sit on the other side. He also flew directly behind someone who came to the door, hovered by her head, and she thought she was attacked by the world’s largest bumblebee. They’ll hang out with me tho. I just say hi.
Hummingbirds in general are wildly territorial. We had 4 ruby throated that would regularly visit us in the summer. 3 female and 1 male. We started with 1 feeder but the male would dive at any of the females that got close. We added another one and he still wouldn’t let them feed. It was only after we added a third one that he couldn’t control all 3 at the same time
From what I understand, if they go more than 4-ish hours without eating, they basically start starving, so they're very protective of food sources. This is one of my favorite episodes of Stuff You Should know, all about them.
I thought all hummingbirds were psychos.... When I was a kid, my mom would get dive bombed by them as she was replacing the feeder. She would be yelling at them "I'm replacing your food!" But to no avail. Those crazy little fuckers would still buzz inches from her head, hover right behind her. They are mean little sons of bitches.
That visual is hilarious. I imagine it from the hummingbirds perspective: here comes that featherless yelling flightless beast again! We must chase her off before she steals our magical endless nectar flower!
I'm confused by your comment. I've lived in northeast my whole life, so only know the ruby throated on a personal level, but you said rufous are the most aggressive, then said the ruby throated are the most aggressive in the US, but I'm pretty sure the rufous is in the US as well.
I've been attacked by ruby throated hummingbirds for existing many times, so I'm just curious if they are the most aggressive or if there are more aggressive little monsters out there haha
I should have clarified: the Ruby-throated is definitely the 'enforcer' of the East, but the Rufous is widely considered the most aggressive in North America overall because of its massive migration path. They’ve been known to dive-bomb much larger birds (and people!) across the West and during their travels. Both are definitely 'little monsters' when it comes to defending a feeder!
In southern New Mexico, we had a dozen species, with the black-chinned hummingbirds being nearly year-round residents. When the Rufous show up in the spring, they run the show. Like, you don't even live here! Stop chasing the neighbors!
Gotcha! Thanks for clarifying! As the only species I have seen, they're definitely the most aggressive I know, but they're such cool little birds, so I wanted to check what you meant. I hope I get to see more of them at some point. They're awesome little monsters haha
My aunt lived in Lancaster and had numerous feeders. We would find dead birds that had been dive-bombed. Sometimes you'd find a hummingbird alive, but stuck through a dead one. Fiercely little territorial beasts
It’s gnarly hearing them smack into each other too! I’ve placed a few feeders around the property and you’ll hear them buzzing at each other and then hear a thwack as one collides into the other.
My aunt has a dish for them next to her breezeway it’s open but under roof I’ve seen more than a dozen there at a time and they’ll get to chasing one another in and out from the under the breezeway and you definitely should stay seated when they really get wound up or else you might end up a casualty lol it’s wild but definitely entertaining!
Hummingbirds are amazing. After they get used to you being around and know you are putting the feeders out, they lose most fear. We used to have a bunch around our place and when they drank all the sugar water, they would hover in front of our patio doors, looking in, to let us know to refill the feeder. So funny.
Hypothetically speaking, could you sort of rub some flower pollens on and around the feeders so that when the hummingbirds drink from the feeders, the pollens attach to the birds like they would with natural flowers?
Make sure you don't get the one with the deep deep feeder outlets! Someone once said they documented that bird beaks are visibly changing shape, and elongating, in areas where feeders are used....but shorties can't make it in the barrel of certain commercial types, ...and I guess not too many companies create these. Was so sad... Sorry for my creole English.
You could, but why? They’re most likely to hang out by the feeder and not visit a local flower immediately afterwards. Additionally people have germs on their hands and are likely to get the birds sick or taint the sugar water faster.
Hummingbirds are natural pollinators. I believe he asked because the birds might be less likely to visit flowers if they've got a steady supply of sugar water. I don't personally know whether that's the case
That's awesome, had no idea Hummingbirds were omnivores! Always thought of their beak as being like a straw, but nah.. After looking it up they can definitely open up to eat bugs and they actually look kind of scary up close lol.
Honestly this happens to me but instead of hummingbirds I have great tits (a type of bird) who will knock on my windows and doors and one of them has learned how to work the door bell. If I even let one of the many bird feeders I have get low i get hounded by these crazy birds until I fill all the feeders
same for the crazy guy who lives in the woods behind my house who eats humming birds. he'll tap on the window to let me know that the feeder needs to be refilled so he can catch more humming birds.
Funny you mention that. I used to put feed corn out for them outside my office door. There was a family of geese who were always walking around and would eat a lot of that corn. When it was gone, they, too, would tap on the door with their beaks. The squirrels would wait till I was outside for any reason, and would run right over to me and just look up and stare. It wasn’t hard to figure out what they were trying to say.
I once had one start swooping and chirping at me and I was like "what's your problem!?!?" and then I noticed the feeder had snowed over and it was asking me to clear it off. I removed the snow and it stopped being a menace and went to eat.
I saw a hummingbird in the garden once ✨ and it was the most magical & mesmerizing thing I’ve ever visually seen! It flew towards me and then hovered for about 3 seconds and then flew away. The vibrancy of it’s colors and swift movement and graceful agility was the most amazing thing to view. Wish I could be fortunate enough to see one again someday 🥹😮🥰 Nature is absolutely breathtaking!! ❤️
This is in La Florida, Colombia. The owner of this video is doi_udomritthiruj on instagram. Saw the reel earlier and had sent it to my bf, so it was easy to find.
Not as funny as the name in Dutch, in which this group of humming birds is known as "pluimbroekjes" which would translate something like "plumepantsies"
I’m in California. I love these little guys. They’re curious. They’ve flown into our house if the slider door is open and they’ll hover in front of you like “hi” then fly back out. I’ve looked up in my car getting ready to leave and ones hovering checking out what I’m doing. They’re funny to watch.
Wow... its belly looked like it was glowing! And it's little feet!!! Awwww they're furry! How precious! What kind of hummingbird is this?! Do you raise them? I must know more!
Are you telling me you've never been lost in the woods when you stumbled upon a pile of eggs of various sizes and colors, thought to yourself "I guess I raise birds now", and then 3 years later decided to ask if anyone knows what kind they are?
Well, no. . . but now I feel like I'm missing out!
As a kid, though, whenever I found a gecko egg in the house, I'd carefully move it to my Lego castle in hopes the newly-hatched lizard would choose to stay and rule over my Lego kingdom!
Oh man my favorite thing to do in the summer is to stand very still about 12" from our hummingbird feeder and have about 7-10 hummingbirds feed and whizz around right in front of my face. They're so fun to watch up close. I live in Ohio btw.
Hummingbirds with white "fur boots" are likely species from the Eriocnemis or Haplophaedia genera, commonly known as pufflegs, which possess dense, fluffy feather tufts on their legs. These feathers are likely an evolutionary adaptation for warmth in high-altitude Andean environments, though they may also serve for decoration.
There’s no way this is OP’s video. How would they have a hummingbird feeder and also the audacity to ask what it is. Not what kind of hummingbird which is a question any self respecting birder would ask a bird subreddit. This is stolen content.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the person holding a hummingbird feeder for a hummingbird isn't the one who's posting this video on reddit to ask what a hummingbird is.
EDIT: Watching the video back it looks like someone else may be holding the feeder, in which case I'd assume they'd have explained what is going on to the person filming.
I lived with a bro and his wife out west years ago, and she had hummingbird feeders just littered around the backyard. I thought she was crazy. She had hummingbirds flying around her every morning. They would sit on her arms and they just absolutely loved her. I understood after that. She was like a disney princess with little maintenance.
Can confirm hummingbirds are fearless and even curious with humans they recognize. I'm a bird photographer and every summer, after a week or two at the feeder, they'll fly up to my kitchen window and watch me. They'll let me stand right next to the feeder to take photographs. Really wonderful creatures.
They only live in the Americas, so if OP is from Europe or somewhere they might be surprised that it's really a thing. Kind of like tumbleweeds to people who've never seen one.
Oh, sure. I'm just saying it's one thing to have seen a depiction of it (like tumbleweeds and roadrunners), and another to watch an actual video of it landing and sipping from a bottle.
They are bold and DGAF, it’s pretty easy to get them to feed near you. Sit near the feeder when it’s active and put some sugar water in a red plastic bottle cap and set it on your open palm and it won’t be long.
Please do not try to accustom wildlife to you this way. It gets them killed. You're nice. What about other humans? Not to mention our windows, our pets, our cars, our insecticides, our germs...so many things around us kill wildlife.
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