Hummer wars

A few days ago I wrote about attracting song birds to our camps with a bird feeder. We also like to hang out a humming bird feeder. One great thing about hummers is that they are fearless, so we can hang the feeder off the ladder, right outside the back window of our fiver. They almost always find it within a matter of hours, no matter where you happen to be camped. It doesn't take them long to get comfortable with the new "bar" and start perching on the feeder. With these little guys just inches outside the window, it's easy to take photos without the need of a tripod or telephoto lens.

Things get interesting when the second hummer arrives. Most hummer species are territorial and it seems the smaller they are, the more fiercely they defend the feeder. We call these antics hummer wars. Their aeronautical acrobatics are endlessly entertaining. The more, the merrier. They are so busy running each other off of the feeder that hardly any of them get to take a sip. Until dusk that is, when a sort of truce seems to be called. We've had as many as six hummers shouldering in for a nightcap. -- Jerry Brown


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