A Hummingbird Question

[Loupey]

At the risk of sounding very stupid, has anyone seen Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds eat anything other than nectar?

I ask this because this past week when I was shooting close-ups of them, I saw one particular female chasing small flying white insects and catching them in mid-air. I don't know if this is normal behavior but it was quite cool to watch. This occurred 3 times and once a big garden spider showed up at the top of some weeds and the hummingbird took a long close cross-eyed look at it before passing it up.

I'm going out tonight and tomorrow to see if I can document her doing it again. The light is only good between 4pm and 6pm at this particular spot as I will need backlighting to show the prey. I'll need to dump the 300mm f/4 and take the 70-200mm f/2.8 (blow off the dust ).

The only problem is that where I have to stand, it must be chigger capital as I'm now on my 3rd infestation Yes, I've tried bug spray, long pants, and socks. That just makes me hot, sweaty, and stinky.

[Loupey]

Well since nobody said that I was nuts (here, on this board, regarding this matter), I tried for 2 hours this evening. Saw plenty of territorial females again and the one dominant one that perches near the feeders (the one that displayed the weird behavior before). Of course she didn't do it tonight . I did see another one across the field that seemed to be chasing bugs in circles once. There were less bugs tonight.

I lost out on other great images while waiting for this shot. I saw a butterfly getting chased off a flower by an H-bird but I didn't have my 300mm+2x to get that one.

If I can't get the bug shot tomorrow evening, I'm giving up. After standing for an hour and 20 minutes straight without taking a step, my knees and hips are a bit tight.

[paulnj]

Yes indeed they will eat insects and territorial RT hummers chase even eagles and win(I've watched one do it), so chasing butterflies is a given. Hummingbirds are the angriest most fearless bird in the US for it's size.

80 minutes..... been there, done that AND IT'S PAINFUL sometimes.Try better ache support

[Coastal Flyer]

Loupey,

I have four hummers that visit my yard on a regular basis. It is quite common to see them dive in and out of the flower beds and lawn consuming gnats and other small insects. I have anna's and ruby throated. Also, one with a bright yellow spot on its head. No idea what that one is though.

CF

[paulnj]

I assure you odds are you have blackchinned, not rubythroated ruby throated hummingbirds west of texas are extremely rare lost young birds usually.

Yes hummingbirds will eat insects , as they are a great source of protein. Hummingbirds need to eat constantly due to a fast beating heart that gives them a high metabolism.

[terryger]

paul is correct. doubt very seriously there is a ruby throat there.

that being said it is very possible that in san diego you may have broad tails which do have ruby thrats on the male. and easy way to recognize the broad tail is the cricket like whistle the male's wings give off when he flys into your area. feamles do not make this sound.

you may not even connect it with his wings as it does sound like a cricket.

unless it is in the right color it will look black. same with the blackchin which also has a sometime red thraot and at other times will appear deep purple.

this is the first good pic i ever took of a balckchin. it was done with my point and shoot kodak.

[Loupey]

I was recently handed an article that ran in our local paper last week. In it, the writer tries to defunk the long standing theory that only the Ruby-Throated hummingbird visits our sorry state of Ohio. Apparently 4 species have started showing up (although I believe the sparseness to be from lost and illegally released specimens). Just in case, you fellow Ohioans should be on the lookout for the following (he claims):

Anna's hummingbird (seen in Butler County November through December, 2005)
Green violet-ear hummingbird (seen in Holmes County August 15 & 16, 2005)
Calliope hummingbird (seen near Chllicothe Oct/Nov in 2002)
Rufous hummingbird (47 confirmed Ohio sightings last year)

Time will tell if any of these take root here. Hopefully