Hummingbirds vie for drinks in Las Vegas NV – competition at the feeder

The immature Costa’s that has laid claim to the south side feeder is not without competition. He has to keep up constant vigilance to chase every other hummer away. Despite his best efforts, some manage to slip in for a quick sip.

Sometimes a hummer can stay long enough to settle on the perch. Other times it doesn’t feel comfortable enough to make a landing but catches a sip on the fly.

Look carefully, you can see the tail wag as the hummer hovers.

These all seem to be immature hummingbirds of several species. I was able to identify on as a Rufus Hummingbird. I didn’t see any Rufus Hummingbirds last fall, so I was excited to see this one.

The Rufus hummer does not seem to stay around for long. In Idaho I noticed it would come to the feeder in the late afternoon and take over for the evening. The next morning it would feed until about 10 and then it was gone. That afternoon what seemed to be another would take its place.

Here I knew I had a Rufus on the grounds when I heard its loud chattering. In Idaho, the Rufus took over, here it has the Costa’s to compete with and can’t seem to win out. So I never get a chance to see it except briefly at the feeder. Besides the loud call, it is easily identified because it is the only hummingbird we have that has prominent rust-colored sides, hence the name Rufus.

The next day I didn’t see or hear a Rufus but I did see plenty of other immature birds. I saw another Rufus several days later when he landed and I had my camera in hand. Just as I snapped the picture, the camera decided it needed to refocus. I got a lovely picture of a blob of color sitting on the perch. The color is unmistakably that of the Rufus but the picture itself is unusable, even with editing. Alas! I still wait and watch, hoping for another opportunity before the migration season is over for the Rufus.

Another migrant that has visited the west side feeder is the Broad-tailed Hummingbird. He has only come in the evening, just as it is getting too dark to take a picture. I’ve been able to identify him by the sound of his wings. The Broad-tailed hummer doesn’t hum. The first evening I heard him, I didn’t even realize I was listening to the wing beats of a hummer. It sounded so ever much like a lawn mower! I have heard him several times since but he chooses to come when the Costa’s is less vigilant, late in the twilight of the end of day.

In the meanwhile, my south-side Costa’s has added to his perches.

He now spends his evening time sitting on a dead limb of a small tree. This is about six feet west of where he was sitting, yet still close to the ground. As I was watching him one evening, I noticed the attraction seemed to be the proximity to the grass and ground cover. Insects like to spend time in both places in the evening. And I like to spend time on the patio watching the antics of the hummingbirds in my yard here in Las Vegas.