Hummingbirds choose the same tree in Las Vegas NV – and I thought there was one

                Silly me! I fell for it again. I thought since I saw the same hummingbird in the same tree day-after-day, when I saw a hummingbird in the same tree another day, it was the same bird. Of course, isn’t that just logical?

Same perch, same bird, taken 9-5-2014

                I took a picture of my immature hummer on August 26 on a dead limb. On September 5, I took another picture of the same bird on the same perch. The only reason I could identify it was because it was an immature. If you are dealing with mature hummingbirds, or females, all bets are off because they all look the same. Immatures, on the other hand, seem to have a unique pattern to their molt, which allows for some confidence in identifying individuals. Notice I am hedging a bit – quite a bit – since there is still a lot of guess work involved. Unless you actually band the bird and can read the number on the band, there is no way of being entirely sure you are seeing the same bird.

Off he goes after an insect.

                This particular bird not only looked the same but it also acted the same. He frequented the same perch, exactly the same perch, just a foot or so above the ground. From there he went fly catching and chasing intruders.

                My logic was: one bird, one perch; one perch, one tree; therefore, same tree, same bird.

                On September 6, I was again sitting out on my patio enjoying the evening when I saw my hummingbird sitting in his tree. This time he had selected a higher branch. I should have been suspicious, but no, my logic still held: same tree, different perch, it’s still the same bird. I snapped its picture several times. One was when he was watching for insects, another while in his whistling stance.

Whistling stance

Same tree, different perch, different bird

                The monitor on my camera is small, hummingbirds are really small, and until I downloaded the pictures onto my computer I couldn’t really tell what I had. Once I saw what I had taken a picture of, I knew I had fallen for illogical thinking. It’s not same tree, different perch, same bird. It’s same tree, different perch, different bird!

                Oh well, I have photographic proof of the error of my ways. I am sure it won’t be the last time I fall for poor logic, whether concerning birds or life. At least birds keep me humble. Maybe they’ll help me in life as well.