The Attack Hummingbird!

by Joan
(USA)

Last summer I had placed my feeder on the front porch of my home, hanging from the rafters for easy refilling. After a week or two, one bird had chased all of the others away from the feeder and was the most vigilant "guard birds" I had ever seen.

The hummer would fly across the yard to a tree at the far side, and wait. As soon as another hummer came by, sure enough, so was the "guard" to chase it away. The "don't even think about it" dance, as I came to call the tussle between birds, was something I could sit and watch for hours.

Do you think the dog was exempt from the onslaught? Nope, the bird would fly down to about six feet above the dog, as he walked off the porch, and then fly away. "Just making sure" I thought I could hear the bird say. It was hysterical.

I was the only one exempt from the bird's protectionism. In fact, when I filled the feeder, which was every morning, the bird would come and sit on the fence that surrounded the garden and wait patiently. As soon as I was done the bird would fly up and get a fresh drink of nectar, and then fly off to it's tree.

On the days I watered the garden, my little friends would fly down and get a good soaking as they flew through the mist of the sprinkler. As soon as the water was turned off, they would hover over the garden and drink the water left on the leaves of the plants.

Having these birds around have helped out my flowers tremendously. The Purple Coneflowers and Gladiolus seem to be their favorites, and the flowers are appreciative I'm sure. The pollinating these birds perform is a welcomed gift. Now that these little beauties are getting more numerous, I am going to plant even more flowers for them to feed on and pollinate.

Hummingbirds are beautiful birds and the aerial acrobatics they perform is something I can watch for hours. I hope they continue to return year after year. Hopefully I will be as entertained as I was this past summer.