There was a fight going on in the back yard. The two combatants threw themselves at each other. Bobbing, weaving, diving, charging and bickering in high pitched, squeaky voices. Even though each of them weighed about as much as a penny they were not backing down. They were in a struggle for a major prize. A plastic container hanging from a branch that was decorated with bright red artificial flowers and filled with a sweet mixture of sugar water.
The two combatants were male ruby-throated hummingbirds, the smallest bird in Saskatchewan. Their metallic green backs and brilliant red throats flashed as they argued over the rights to the feeder. While the two males were arguing a female flew up the feeder and drank her fill. Her markings weren't quite as bright and she lacked the red colour on her throat. While this one used a diversion to feed, female ruby-throated hummingbirds will
also protect a food source from other birds and even insects.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migratory. They leave Saskatchewan in late August or early September and return in late May to the very same place they left in the fall.
"Ruby-throated hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America," says Saskatchewan Environment's Rick Espie. "Folklore says the hummingbirds catch a ride on the backs of migrating geese. But we now know that most of them follow a land route, leapfrogging their way south through Mexico, others fly non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico, a trip of nearly 1,600
kilometres."
The hummingbirds usually mate soon after returning to Saskatchewan. The female uses cobwebs and plant down to build a half of a walnut sized nest on a limb of a leafy tree or shrub. Working with her bill she uses spider silk to lash the material together and secure the nest to the branch. She lays two eggs the size of a pea, which hatch in about two weeks. The young are nearly full grown when they leave the nest, three to four weeks later.
Scientists had thought hummingbirds evolved in North and South America but a recent find in Germany shows they existed in Europe at least 30-million years ago but have since disappeared. Until this discovery the oldest hummingbird fossils had been found in Central America and were believed to be between one and two million years old. Currently 319 species of hummingbird have been reported in the world; most of them are tropical birds. The ruby-throated hummingbird is one of five species found in Canada and the most common in Saskatchewan.
While the majority of the hummingbird's diet is nectar they also eat small insects. The insects are caught in the air by birds flying from lookout perches or in and around flowers. To get at the nectar in flowers the birds insert their long tongue into the flower. If the flower is deep, such as some lilies, they will sometimes use their sharp bill to pierce the base of the flower and use this shortcut to get the nectar.
The hummingbird gets its name from the sound its wings make in flight.
"Hummingbirds beat their wings 55 to 75 times every second which makes the humming sound they get their name from," says Environment's Espie.
"The speed of their wings and the figure eight pattern they make allows them to fly forward or backward, up and down or hover motionless. This allows them to feed on flowers or at a feeder that would otherwise be out of reach. When a hummingbird returns in the spring it will often return to the sameplace it left and even look for the feeder it last ate from."
You can attract hummingbirds to your garden by putting out feeders containing a solution of one part sugar and four parts water. Do not use honey, as it is associated with a fungal disease that affects the birds. The solution should be boiled for two to three minutes to prevent fermentation and cooled before going into the feeder. Leftover solution can be frozen for use later. The feeder mixture should be changed at least once a week.
For more information contact;
Rick Espie
Biodiversity Specialist
Saskatchewan Environment
(306)-787-2461
respie@serm.gov.sk.ca
Or
Art Jones
Communications Consultant
Saskatchewan Environment
(306) 787-5796
(306) 536-8452 (cell)
ajones@serm.gov.sk.ca
The two combatants were male ruby-throated hummingbirds, the smallest bird in Saskatchewan. Their metallic green backs and brilliant red throats flashed as they argued over the rights to the feeder. While the two males were arguing a female flew up the feeder and drank her fill. Her markings weren't quite as bright and she lacked the red colour on her throat. While this one used a diversion to feed, female ruby-throated hummingbirds will
also protect a food source from other birds and even insects.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are migratory. They leave Saskatchewan in late August or early September and return in late May to the very same place they left in the fall.
"Ruby-throated hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America," says Saskatchewan Environment's Rick Espie. "Folklore says the hummingbirds catch a ride on the backs of migrating geese. But we now know that most of them follow a land route, leapfrogging their way south through Mexico, others fly non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico, a trip of nearly 1,600
kilometres."
The hummingbirds usually mate soon after returning to Saskatchewan. The female uses cobwebs and plant down to build a half of a walnut sized nest on a limb of a leafy tree or shrub. Working with her bill she uses spider silk to lash the material together and secure the nest to the branch. She lays two eggs the size of a pea, which hatch in about two weeks. The young are nearly full grown when they leave the nest, three to four weeks later.
Scientists had thought hummingbirds evolved in North and South America but a recent find in Germany shows they existed in Europe at least 30-million years ago but have since disappeared. Until this discovery the oldest hummingbird fossils had been found in Central America and were believed to be between one and two million years old. Currently 319 species of hummingbird have been reported in the world; most of them are tropical birds. The ruby-throated hummingbird is one of five species found in Canada and the most common in Saskatchewan.
While the majority of the hummingbird's diet is nectar they also eat small insects. The insects are caught in the air by birds flying from lookout perches or in and around flowers. To get at the nectar in flowers the birds insert their long tongue into the flower. If the flower is deep, such as some lilies, they will sometimes use their sharp bill to pierce the base of the flower and use this shortcut to get the nectar.
The hummingbird gets its name from the sound its wings make in flight.
"Hummingbirds beat their wings 55 to 75 times every second which makes the humming sound they get their name from," says Environment's Espie.
"The speed of their wings and the figure eight pattern they make allows them to fly forward or backward, up and down or hover motionless. This allows them to feed on flowers or at a feeder that would otherwise be out of reach. When a hummingbird returns in the spring it will often return to the sameplace it left and even look for the feeder it last ate from."
You can attract hummingbirds to your garden by putting out feeders containing a solution of one part sugar and four parts water. Do not use honey, as it is associated with a fungal disease that affects the birds. The solution should be boiled for two to three minutes to prevent fermentation and cooled before going into the feeder. Leftover solution can be frozen for use later. The feeder mixture should be changed at least once a week.
For more information contact;
Rick Espie
Biodiversity Specialist
Saskatchewan Environment
(306)-787-2461
respie@serm.gov.sk.ca
Or
Art Jones
Communications Consultant
Saskatchewan Environment
(306) 787-5796
(306) 536-8452 (cell)
ajones@serm.gov.sk.ca
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