Hummingbirds at flowers and feeders in Las Vegas NV – and others that aren’t hummers

                It’s not just the feeders that attract the birds to my yard, although that is the big draw.

Feeding at the feeder

Once they are here they also like to avail themselves of the flowers. Even though the lantana has tiny flowers, they must be sweet, since the hummingbirds frequent them for nectar.

Feeding on nectar of the lantana

It isn’t just the hummers though.

                Today I was watching a sulphur butterfly take advantage of this nectar as well. This was the first butterfly that I have been able to photograph since moving to Las Vegas. In Idaho I had pictures of 23 species, but mornings and evenings there were cool. This meant butterflies were slow in their movements. In the morning they rested with their wings open to absorb the warmth of the sun. Here in Las Vegas NV it isn’t cool anytime during the day in the summer. I see the butterflies, but they are flitting around so fast I can hardly identify them, to say nothing of photographing them. But today was different.

A Clouded Sulphur sips nectar

The sweet nectar of the lantana flowers held my butterfly captive long enough for me to get several pictures.

                The sweet water in the feeders attract more than hummingbirds and finches. The Scott’s Oriole is not a seed eater. It relies on insects, fruit and nectar. Of course feeders are ideal, if he can get his bill into the slot. One of my feeders is missing its bee guard, making on opening big enough for the oriole to reach the sweet water. Another is a drip type, which means that birds other than hummingbirds can get to the sweet water that has collected along the sides. There are sweet water feeders designed just for orioles, but I don’t have enough of that species to bother with putting yet another feeder out.

                The first time the Scott’s Oriole came to visit he was here for two days and then disappeared. I saw him briefly several weeks later. This last week he has definitely moved into the neighborhood. Every morning he comes for a drink. I can’t miss him because he always announces his presence with his very loud squawks. As soon as hear that, I am ready with the camera. The problem is the lighting is not the best at the feeder he prefers.

The Scott's Oriole before the dogs startled him

This morning the dogs startled him, since they had to go out to see the source of the sound. He flew off the west side feeder and onto the south side feeder, where the light was perfect.

Immature male Scott's Oriole at the south side feeder in early morning light

The only problem was I had to take the picture through the mini-blinds, since there was no way of opening them and still getting the photo.

                Yet another bird has come to the feeder recently, but not for sweet water. The tiny Verdin feeds strictly on insects and spiders that it gleans off  the surface of leaves. At my feeder this little immature grey bird was all over the feeder.

The tiny Verdin looks for insects on the feeder

He wasn’t interested in the sweet water at all. What he was after was the insects that were attracted to the feeder. I don’t know if the sweet residue was attracting this six legged creature, or the color of the feeder, since gnats like bright colors. Whatever, the Verdin was having a great time picking them off.

                I keep my ears open, my eyes focused and my camera handy waiting for what happens next at my feeders in Las Vegas NV.

               

Costa’s Hummingbird in Las Vegas NV, July 2014 – he takes over again

                Each day as the dogs and I come home from our morning walk, we are greeted by the whistle of the Costa’s hummingbird. Except this morning, when he was too busy chasing away another hummer. This time as we walked up the driveway two hummers came zipping by, with the chaser chattering all the while. After they whipped by us in the front, I heard them in the backyard. They must have been circling the house.

Costa's male watching for insects

                After we came into the house I looked and saw the Costa’s male sitting on his lookout post, a dead branch on my new, still struggling, dwarf magnolia tree. He was watching for any interlopers that happened by, as well as any juicy, though tiny, insects flying around near him.

Still watching for insects

                Another favorite place for him to sit and watch is the saucer feeder. The perch is exactly the same one that last year’s Costa’s used. There is no way of knowing if it’s the same individual, since the bird is not banded, or if it’s just that that perch is placed well for watching the yard and the patio.

                The day I was taking pictures of him, he was actively fly catching. Since my patio is filled with plants, it is also filled with little flying insects. They are the perfect size for hummers to feast on. After a few minutes he either got tired or had his fill, since he settled himself on the perch. For a short time he still kept an eye out for insects. Then he decided a good scratch was necessary. That was followed by some heavy duty grooming.

Time for a good scratch

And then he needed to groom his wings

                When he finished that job he was off again to chase away more hummingbirds, drink more sweet water and eat more insects. Or, in other words, live the typical life of a male hummingbird with no household chores or children to worry about.

Black-chinned Hummingbird at a feeder in Las Vegas – he kindly sits for his portrait

Taken at 6:38 am 7-7-14, Black-chinned hummer male getting a drink

                Finally! I’ve waited for more than a year to get this picture. Finally the hummingbird cooperated, not just once but twice!

                I was sitting at the window watching the south side feeder early Monday morning, 7-7-14. I had already walked the dogs and fed them breakfast, now it was time for the birds. I saw a hummingbird come to the feeder, sit and drink. I snapped a picture. When I looked at the image I thought perchance it was a Black-chinned hummingbird male, but I wasn’t positive. The image that shows on the back of the camera is really small and the hummer is really small. Judging anything from that monitor is a problem.

                Time passed. More than a half-hour, to be almost exact, a hummer came to the other side of the feeder, sat and drank. Looked around, drank some more. Looked around again, drank some more and then flitted away. While he was posing so nicely I snapped several pictures. This time I knew it was a Black-chinned hummer male, no doubt about it.

Taken at 7:15 am, looking around between drinks.

                Black-chinned hummingbirds are only here in Las Vegas NV in the summer. They come up from Mexico in the spring, stay the summer, hatch out their babies, raise them and then in late summer they head back down to their wintering grounds on the west coast of Mexico.

                Last year I saw the male numerous times, but never sitting at the feeder. I saw him high up in the neighbor’s Italian Cypress trees. From that perch he was busily fly catching. I saw him at the north side feeder when he came to the window to take a look at me. I could see his purple band below the black, but he was off immediately, so no picture possible. I saw him fly catching just feet above the grass at the park, but, of course, there was no chance of getting his photo.

                So 7-7-14 was truly a great day, besides being a great mathematical day (7+7=14). Even though the morning was cloudy, so no glint of light to illuminate his throat, you can still be the purple band in the photo if you look carefully. You can also plainly see the most marked difference between the Black-chinned male and Anna’s and Costa’s. The Black-chinned is the only male in our area whose gorget does not extend down onto his chest. His just wraps itself nicely around his throat, creating a very tidy look. No mutton-chops for him!

Taken a 7:16 am. If you look carefully you can see the purple.

                Even though I’m thrilled to get his picture, I have to admit I’m still disappointed about the ones I didn’t get. I saw a hummer using the ant moat for a bathtub. I’ve never seen a hummer bathe before. He stuck his bill into the water and then rubbed it across his chest. Before I could grab the camera he was off. Watch as I might, I don’t see another bather.

                I saw a hummer go from the west side feeder to the spider plant that spends the summer on my patio. I was on the phone talking and watching, so no camera in hand. I saw him hovering near the spider plant and thought maybe he was checking for the small insects attracted to the greenery. He didn’t move around though, he just hovered. Finally I moved so as to see what he was doing. It turned out he was drinking nectar from the tiny white spider plant flowers. Again, I keep watching for a repetition of this when I have my camera handy. So far, no luck, but I’ll keep watching since I never know what will happen next at my hummingbird feeders here in Las Vegas NV.

               

Immature and mature hummingbirds at Las Vegas NV feeders – the numbers keep increasing

                The feeders around my house are busy indeed. Hummers come and go. Some come for a quick sip and then fly over to more important duties. Others come and stay for awhile, taking a good long drink and resting themselves for a moment.

Just taking a sip.

The first of the three hummers.

The second hummer, the adult male

                I was watching them one evening and taking pictures. It was fifteen minutes after seven in the middle of June. I snapped a picture of one male sitting on a perch feeding. He took off and then came back again, less than a minute later, for another drink – that is what I thought, at least. I took several more pictures of him, I could see it was an adult male Costa’s, before he again left me. A few minutes later an immature hummer came and sat at a perch on the other side of the feeder and stayed long enough for me to get several shots in.

                When I downloaded the pictures and put them into the photo editor, I thought I had made an error in selecting the picture. The picture that I assumed was the first of the adult male Costa’s turned out to be an immature male just getting his gorget. I didn’t think I was that unobservant that I mistook an adult male for a juvenile. I went back to the original pictures and found out what had happened. The bird that left and then came back immediately – didn’t. He took off and was quickly replaced by a totally different hummer. That second one was the mature adult Costa’s. Whew, that saved my sanity!

The third hummer.

                The supposedly second hummer, who was really the third one, was a different bird than the other two. I find that pictures are essential for me to keep track of what’s going on at my feeders here in Las Vegas.

                Despite the fact that I have four sweet-water feeders around my house, the hummingbirds still like to sip nectar from flowers. Even the tiny lantana flower attracts them. One day I was out to check on the feeders when what I took to be a female hummer, came up and flew within a few feet of me looking for any insects attracted to the finch feeders. She hovered around them and then went and sat on the hook holding the feed sock, watching me all the while. Next she flew down to the purple lantana on the left of the sock sipping a little nectar, then to the orange lantana on the right of the sock, where she got some more nectar. Finally she flew off. All the while I stood like a statute waiting for her to finish.

The best photo I could get!

                This year I don’t seem to have any one bird that owns the sweet-water feeders. I don’t know if it is still too early in the year, or if I really am going to go through the summer with no hostile takeovers. One can only wonder when it comes to birds, but there is a marked difference this year with the feeders.

                The finches use the feeders frequently to rest on in the shade. They also use the ant moat as a water supply and whenever they can, sneak a little sweet water for themselves. The hummingbirds have learned to coexist with the finches and ignore their presence. The hummer drinks on one side of the feeder while a finch rests on the other side. The hummers have had to learn tolerance, maybe this has spread to other hummers as well.

A hummer feeds while a finch rests in the shade.

                I’ll be watching as the summer progresses to see what other surprises my hummingbird friends have for me here in Las Vegas NV.