September 5, 1991 - Tiny Hummers and Their LookalikesC6 The Suffolk Times • September 5, 1991
Tiny Hummers and Their Lookalikes
By Paul Stoutenburqh
Each year about this time we make
our annual pilgrimage to Maine to see
old friends. This year instead of the
coolness usually associated with that
part of the country it was hot and
muggy, very similar to our weather here
on the East End. Our friends are not too
handy with a hammer and saw and so I
put up a post with a cross arm on their
new patio for a bird feeder. At the last
minute we hung up a hummingbird
feeder — the kind with the red plastic
bottom and the reservoir on top for
sugar water. I'd given up on my hum-
mingbird feeder at home for I'd seen
only one of those flashing jewels this
year and that was during the spring mi-
gration, which meant they were passing
through.
A mixture of sugar and water plus a
bit of red coloring to make it eye -ap-
pealing and the feeder was up alongside
the seed feeder. Within 10 minutes we
had a hummingbird sipping the sweet-
ness from our feeder. I couldn't believe
it but there she was hovering alongside
the red plastic, dipping that wonderfully
long bill into the tiny openings to sip
our newly prepared vintage. We watched
with amazement as the tiny wings beat
faster than the eye could follow. Up and
down, forward and backward, it moved
in deliberate jerks and then off it would
dart to a nearby plum tree to alight on a
dead limb to rest.
Soon our presence was an accepted
thing and our movements became less
and less guarded. She accepted our sit-
ting and eating right next to her food
Focus on
Nature
supply and darted in every once in a
while, seemingly just to check to see if
her newfound cache of food was still
there. She seemed almost apprehensive
as if we might take it away from her for
many of her trips from the plum tree
were not to feed but just to check things
out.
No Room For Two
Then came an intruder. Another
hummingbird decided the red plastic
feeder looked pretty good and came in to
check it out. But no, evidently there
was only room for the first and to prove
it the original hummingbird buzzed in
and chased the newcomer away. Again
the new challenger appeared only to be
attacked and driven off. There was no
two ways about it. This feeding station
was hers and hers alone.
How I longed to have that feeder and
hummer in my backyard. Years ago we
had them and they were common nesters
here on our East End. I'm sure today
there are a few scattered about but noth-
ing compared to years ago. I even pho-
tographed a nesting pair in the north
woods of Southampton some years ago.
Most don't realize how our small -bird
population has dwindled. Part of the rea-
son is that they still see hundreds of the
blackbirds about. They've increased: the
starling, the grackle, the redwing. All
have prospered by man's maneuvering
Special on
HOMESTEAD CEILING FANS
The Premium Ceiling Fan with Universal Appeal
Ceiling Fans By Homestead
The UniversalTMCeiling Fan gives you the Homestead quality and
performance at a price everyone can afford. Uncompromising per-
formance and design, UniversalTMoffers features usually reserved
for premium priced fans.
• 3 speed motor for added comfort. Reg. $274
• Silent SweepTM 6 blade air system. Special $199
• Simple pull chain operation.
• Full line lighting fixtures.
• 140 blade pitch for added airflow �
• Colors and blade finishes for every decor
(White, polished brass, antique brass, almond)
• 29 " -52" blade span
Leader in Fan Technology
WHILE QUANTITIES LAST and Design
FROHNHOEFER LIGHTING
Main Road, Southold • 765 -2100 a 800 - 640 -2363
Photo by Paul Stouteoburgh
RUBY - THROATED HUMMINGBIRD —These darting jewels were
once common throughout our island. Lately they've become harder and
harder to find. This one ran into a window but recovered soon after this
picture was taken.
of the land but they, like the robin, are
but a tiny part of what was once our na-
tive bird population.
We get only the ruby - throated hum-
mingbird east of the Rockies. To the
west and particularly to the southwest
there are many more different species of
these jewels in flight. Many are espe-
cially designed for a specific flower,
having a special curve or length to their
bill. Like our own ruby - throated, with
its long bill, they seek out nectar in
deep- throated plants. I well remember
my Dad's place where he had a huge
trumpet creeper just outside the
window. How the hummingbirds loved
those long, orange trumpets for feeding.
It seemed we could almost reach out and
touch them as they darted about from
one blossom to the other. It was sheer
joy just watching them.
Hummers Like Insects, too
Besides nectar, which they gather
with such skill and agility, they are also
equally adept at catching small insects.
I've often watched them sitting on a
branch or wire waiting for a mosquito
or gnat to fly by. Then with a quick
dash the insect was picked up in mid
air. The hummingbird then returned to
its perch to await another. Everything
about a hummingbird is on a small
scale. Its nest is but the size of a half -
dollar, made up of not sticks and grass
but the fuzz from plant stems. On its
sides are attached lichens from the sides
of the tree it is on so as to camouflage
the nest perfectly on the branch. Much
of this delicate and tiny work is held
together with spider webs. Its eggs are
only pea size.
There's another creature that looks
like a hovering hummingbird but is
not. It's the sphinx moth. A wonderful
lady called me up all excited about the
"things" that were flying about in her
backyard. "There were hundreds of
them," she said. "Some alighted on the
house, others were flying madly about."
She caught one and, no, it wasn't a bat
but it had long thin wings and a heavy
body. What could it be?
In five minutes we were there and
found the "things" were sphinx moths.
I've never heard of groups of them fly-
ing together before; usually they fly at
dusk, as they did then, and sip nectar
from flowers like the hummingbird.
They have that fast, buzzing wing beat
and stocky body of the hummingbird.
Like the hummingbird they are nectar
feeders and therefore you'll see them
around your flower gardens in the
evening.
We have about 100 species of these
interesting sphinx moths throughout
the country and like all moths they
pupate through various life stages and
when they are caterpillars many are
quite gross - looking. Some have large
horns and what seem to be eyes on their
rear ends but all are perfectly harmless.
What the horns and make- believe eyes
do is scare away predators and, I must
say, they do a good job of it for even
people are leery of these fearsome -
looking creatures.
So whether it be the hummingbird or
the sphinx moth, keep your eyes out for
these nectar sippers around the garden.
The hummers will be out during the day
time, the sphinx moths toward evening.
Both are equally adapted for reaching
down into the throats of flowers like
petunias, morning glories or nastur-
tiums. The sphinx moth doesn't have
the long bill of the hummingbird but
has a tongue that is coiled up like a
watch spring and can be released to
reach down into the deep pools of nectar
of the deep- throated flowers. Let us
hope that the pendulum of fate will
swing the other way and bring back the
abundance we once knew when
hummingbirds were common visitors to
our gardens throughout the summer. It
would make a better world for sure.
The Birdwatcfier s Companion
Feeders • Houses • Bird Baths
Binoculars • Field Guides • Carvings
"Everything for the Birder"
CLOSED WEDNESDAYS
North Rd. (Cty. Rd. 48) Southold 765 -5872