Tiny Terrorists

There's a charming folk tale from the Pacific Northwest which says that Rufous Hummingbirds migrate north in the springtime on the backs of Canada Geese, and that they return south in the fall by the same method. Charming as it is, it's just mythology. Furthermore, from what I've seen over the past couple of weeks in my backyard, I doubt the geese would put up with the little terrorists, nor would the hummingbirds permit the geese to invade their territory long enough to climb onto their backs!

In my backyard I normally host a few Anna's hummingbirds, and because Anna's are resident in my region I have them with me year-round. So you've been subjected to several stories about my Anna's, especially about how much I worry about them in the winter, racing out onto the frosty deck on cold winter mornings to make sure the hummingbird feeder has not frozen overnight. Over the years I have done several things to make my yard more attractive to "my" hummingbirds, including planting a red-flowering current bush which now stands five-feet tall and has gorgeous red blossoms in the early springtime which the Anna's just adore. I've researched what kinds of flowers please them, and I've added one or two every year so that now my deck includes red ivy geraniums, red verbena, and a red-hot poker plant (the latter is new and has not yet bloomed, but I have high hopes for it). I must be doing something right, because this year the Rufous Hummingbirds moved in en masse.

In past years I've seen Rufous Hummers one at a time during both spring and fall migration, but never for very long, so a couple of weeks ago I was quite pleased when I caught sight of a female Rufous checking out the ivy geraniums. Within minutes she had located the hummingbird feeder and settled in for a long drink. An hour or so later I heard the rapid-fire buzzing of two hummingbirds in a territorial dispute, and when I looked out I saw the female Rufous chasing a female Anna's through the apple trees. Rufous Hummingbirds are one of the smaller hummingbirds we see here in Oregon, but they make up for their small size with a ferocious aggressiveness, as my usually good-natured Anna's hummingbirds were quick to learn. Within a few days there were at least six Rufous hummingbirds in the yard, fighting constantly among themselves for drinks at the feeder and grazing rights at the ivy geraniums. I saw the Rufous birds chasing anything which came within striking distance of the feeder, including scrub jays, robins, finches and sparrows. One even took a run at a northern flicker, and the flicker was annoyed enough to high-tail it out of the yard to seek a more peaceful perch elsewhere. They even buzz ME when I try to approach the feeder to clean or fill it. They really are little terrorists! At one point I tried setting up a second feeder, to try to limit some of the fighting, but the birds managed to knock down and break the second feeder. I decided to let them duke it out among themselves until I can get to a store for a replacement.

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