OCR Text |
Show Hummingbirds Have Now Siroroei South ! 11 II i, ' ' ' L,-.. . , ... k..,.-.. .......i ,.,, . ' ' ny J. FORD ANDERSON ,.ke a speeding bullet the tiny ming bir(1 flashes across Y01"" "jfaster than the human vision is to follow. The beautiful little ' nd a half inch bird, exquisite in m and brilliant in its changeable is the masterpiece of the I Sbirdfamily- I 1 they have gone south, and the .Ucanbetakenin f The birds around our home were of I " ber of colors. We called one ' U-Jack" because he had a dark 1 : 1 jini a light ring around the neck fhh a dark body. One was called JlLiy" because she had a beautiful a tail with a strip of white through Wanfeathers. ' There were some 16 of these little ,1 spirited mites around our I J' each one given a name by our Ldchildren or us. We enjoyed their Ldliness. While sitting on our front rch, all of a sudden there would be Se right there in front of us, looking Lght into our eyes while upended in mid-air, the body not taring, but the hum of the wings was L clear. If we were right still they Lid fly a'1 around us and we could inn feel the wind from the humming Ls. You might say they are as Uasabug'sear." Tjis tiniest of birds does not sing, mt squeaks something like a mouse, jese are some 750 species and Subspecies all across the country, entral American and South America ave the greatest variety of species, jl have long slender bills -ometimes longer than the head, neck id the body together, i There is usually one of the birds ai has made himself "Boss" of the teder, He very selfishly guards the feeder from a branch in the nearest fee. When the other birds come in for taste of the sweet sugar-filled fcWion that we put in the feeder, he 1 jwops down on them with the speed da miniature F-16 fighter plane, the long slender beak straight forward, pointed directly at the bird that is wding his conquered property. The H immediately darts toward the ( found or straight up in the air to (void the collision, and leaves the ueawith the boss in full pursuit, i ' The feeding habits make their sings strong. Their feed is mainly j Jby insects which loiter in the depths I id flowers to small to even see. Most jsple think that they live on the J tutor of the flower, but it is the in-i in-i sect that really supplies the food of I k humming bird. They stay spded in mid-air while feeding in j 'ie lender flowers. This has made j Sewings very strong, and the eye ' Blhemasonlyafilmyhaze. v. tith its long beak it reaches deep i the flower without any weight j Tiny hummingbirds take a last sip before the onset of winter. being placed on the flower and slicks up the insects with its long tapered double-tubed tongue which can be instantly extended to an extraordinary ex-traordinary length to seize insects in the flower or under the bark of trees. Of course with the insects in the flowers or under the bark of trees. Of course with the insects it gets some of the nectar, but it is the insects and not the nectar that the bird is after. Like the bees, the hummingbirds are very useful in the cross-fertilization cross-fertilization of plants. The hummingbird nest is a tiny cup-shaped cup-shaped affair, such a a fairy might ' build,-and it is made of quite fairy-like material, plant-down, stuccoed with moss and spiderwebs. The eggs are pure white and never more than two in number. The female is about three-fourths three-fourths of an inch longer than the male or about four inches. The upper feathers of the male are the glistening green of an emerald, with changeable amethyst lights over the wings and tail. The females or more soberly '(lad. -- ' -- .;.. :..,.x The tiny, friendly, beautiful little humming bird is also a fierce little fighter and will even rout a hawk or crow that ventures too near its nest. The rubythroat is the most common species and feeds its little bug-like babies with food and the mother has partially digested and which she pumps through her bill into her mouth of the fledgljng. , , u d Most of the rubythroats, from as far north as Alaska winter in southern Mexico or Central America. After migrating to the Southern states, these tiny birds some autumn night launch out across the Gulf of Mexico, straight for their winter home 500 miles distant, and, incredible as it may seem, the trip is made without stop for food or rest. The hummingbird family is known as the Trochilidae. Scientific name of rubythroat is Archilochus Colubris. |