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Horrible experience at my feeder today (1 Viewer)

S

sdonders

New member
I live in California and the winter has been colder than usual. I have a feeder in front of my living room window and the hummers have been battling over the nectar even thought there is plenty to go around. I think the cold has made them even fiercer. Two females were battling this morning and this one weaker female simply would not give up even though she was being doggedly chased by a more aggressive female. They kept tousling and even fell to the ground and wrestled. It happened a second time and the more aggressive female ended up killing the other female right in front of my eyes. I am totally horrified by it; I have seen them brawl before but I never would have imagined it could get lethal.

So my question is should I now take down the feeder? Is it possible that I am creating hostility and territorial behavior by having this feeder? I feel like I want to take it down, but I am afraid the other birds will suffer suddenly not having whats been a steady food source in the middle of winter. In general is this a reason for people not to have hummingbird feeders? The feeder has given me joy for years, but now I feel like I am at least partially responsible for the death of one of the little birds I love.

Advice would be appreciated.

Steve
 
Hi Steve and a warm welcome to you.

It is always hard to see something like this.

Why not put up another feeder or two and space them as far apart as possible.
 
KC offers a good suggestion. And I would leave the feeder up in any event. Though tiny and cute, hummers are also known for being unusually aggressive and territorial, at least by bird standards. (One recent NPR spot interviewed an expert who described them as "little monsters"). What you witnessed is in their nature and could happen in a fight over a natural food source just as well. And without your feeder, the victor in the fight might perish also.

Best,
Jim
 
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Is it possible that I am creating hostility and territorial behavior by having this feeder?
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You aren't creating hostility and territoriality, that's just the way hummingbirds are. It's their nature to try to claim ownership of a food resource and drive all the other hummingbirds away. If a lot of birds are present it isn't possible for one individual to keep all the others away so you may see them sharing the feeder reluctantly but fairly peacefully. But if only two or three birds are present you can expect to see a fight. Usually the weaker or less aggressive bird flies away but a bird that's really hungry might go after the food no matter what. I've heard of a hummingbird drinking from a feeder while another bird was pounding it on the back of the skull with its beak, trying to drive it away.

Edited to add: fights are rarely fatal and hummingbirds are generally considered to be incapable of killing each other intentionally. The tragic event in your yard was basically an accident, where the attacking bird just happened to hit the other bird in the right spot to kill it. You aren't likely to have any more fights to the death in your yard.
 
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tielfan said:
You aren't creating hostility and territoriality, that's just the way hummingbirds are. It's their nature to try to claim ownership of a food resource and drive all the other hummingbirds away. If a lot of birds are present it isn't possible for one individual to keep all the others away so you may see them sharing the feeder reluctantly but fairly peacefully. But if only two or three birds are present you can expect to see a fight. Usually the weaker or less aggressive bird flies away but a bird that's really hungry might go after the food no matter what. I've heard of a hummingbird drinking from a feeder while another bird was pounding it on the back of the skull with its beak, trying to drive it away.

Edited to add: fights are rarely fatal and hummingbirds are generally considered to be incapable of killing each other intentionally. The tragic event in your yard was basically an accident, where the attacking bird just happened to hit the other bird in the right spot to kill it. You aren't likely to have any more fights to the death in your yard.
Click to expand...

Agree with all this. Just a freak accident very unlikely to recur.
 
Yeah. I wouldn't call it an accident (it was death by violent attack of a weaker opponent that stubbornly refused to retreat--a typical outcome in animal combat), but agree it's unlikely to recur.
 
J. Moore said:
Yeah. I wouldn't call it an accident (it was death by violent attack of a weaker opponent that stubbornly refused to retreat--a typical outcome in animal combat), but agree it's unlikely to recur.
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Mere pettifoggery. The qualified sense in which tielfan used the word--" . . .basically an accident, where the attacking bird just happened to hit the other bird in the right spot to kill it"-- (& which I referenced in my post) is perfectly good usage, clear unambiguous English fitting the dictionary definition to a T: "chance; fortune; luck" (Random House Webster's unabridged).
 
Have heard 50 feet is good minimum distance to seperate feeders.Each having a handy
perch close by so birds dont go "looking" for trouble,so to speak.
Is unfortunate Steve,maybe your extra-ordinary event can be a "heads up" for
someone else.

For what its worth I lost a female ruby-throat 2 years ago to 3 non-native birds here.
Dont know if it was aggression or hummer was mistaken for spinx moth.
Talked with ornithologist at our zoo here and he threw out above scenario.
 
Here's an interesting blog post on "killer hummingbirds" by Sheri Williamson, who wrote a field guide about hummingbirds: http://fieldguidetohummingbirds.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/7/

Some of the more interesting quotes:

"Hummingbirds are definitely more Taz than Tinker Bell, but (thankfully) they just don’t have what it takes to commit trochilicide." Trochilicide - I love that word!

"The fact is that a healthy hummingbird will either defend itself or flee before a more aggressive individual gets the chance to do any significant damage. Only birds weakened by hunger, disease, or injuries (from encounters with cats, windows, cars, and power lines, for example) are vulnerable to injury and, in rare instances, death from other hummingbirds, but these disadvantaged birds are far more at risk from cats, larger birds, and other predators. A starving, sick, or injured hummingbird is going to gravitate toward the easiest and most reliable energy source – a feeder – which makes one-sided battles such as the one Robin witnessed more likely to be observed at feeders. But it’s not the feeders’ fault, and their accessibility may mean the difference between life and death for those disadvantaged birds – a quick energy boost that gives them the strength to fight back or flee."

"If feeders made hummingbirds fight to the death, imagine the carnage... the ground under the feeders would be littered with corpses. "
 
Thanks for the quotations Tielfan. The following seems like what happened here:

tielfan said:
"Only birds weakened by hunger, disease, or injuries (from encounters with cats, windows, cars, and power lines, for example) are vulnerable to injury and, in rare instances, death from other hummingbirds"
Click to expand...

Jim
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. I think the victim may have been starving or sick and will take it as a lesson learned. The feeder stays up :)
 
A sequel

Very sad to witness something like this. I have big glass doors in my house and sometimes I witness birds flying in to them with fatal results, not nice to see. But on a lighter note to the aggressive behaviour of the hummers. I live in Brasil and I have Swallow tails visiting my two feeders, they are very territorial and aggressive and will chase off anything within their territory. One day a Bananaquit tried his hand, (or beak) on the feeder without success, so I adapted it for his use. Great until the Swallow tail saw this. Next to the feeder I have big palm type plant, called a Sagu, this has long spikey foliage. So now the Bananaquit visits the feeder until the Swallow tail returns and gives him the red card, the Bananaquit hides in the Sagu until the Swallow tail disappears, then he returns to the feeder. This hide and seek is very funny to watch and presents a humourus side to the aggressive behaviour of some birds. On another note it is interesting to see the tiniest of creatures chasing off our local birds of prey.
 
Daveash said:
I have big glass doors in my house and sometimes I witness birds flying in to them with fatal results, not nice to see.
Click to expand...

In case you were unaware...

How can I stop birds flying into my windows?

You can fix something to the outside of your windows to stop birds from flying into them. Birds fly into windows because the reflections confuse them. Some see the reflection of trees and the sky and don’t realise it is glass. By fixing something to the window you will reduce the reflection and birds are less likely to be confused.

Plastic stickers work well - internet shops sell stickers in the shape of bird silhouettes, which are ideal.
 
Plastic stickers work well - internet shops sell stickers in the shape of bird silhouettes, which are ideal.
Click to expand...
If you have pet birds, a hawk silhouette might scare the heck out of them. My cockatiels refused to go into a room that had a hawk sticker on the window to protect the outdoor birds. Many Coopers hawks have figured out that prey-catching is easier if they chase birds toward a window, and nothing will prevent collisions under those circumstances.

There are window films that can prevent/reduce collisions without destroying the view from the inside. For example: http://www.sibleyguides.com/2009/06/promising-new-window-film-may-prevent-bird-collisions/
 
Window collisions

Humans have collisions with windows also, as I have found to my cost on three occasions. I´ve bought some stickers to put on the glass but have not mounted them yet. If this will stop the bird collisions then I´ll stick them on. Rockfowl...sometimes you have good ideas.

daveash
 
What an interesting hummingbird behavior! You put the feeder up ostensibly to have a closer view of nature. This is a natural occurrence, not a freak accident, and I feel you should be somewhat grateful to have been able to witness it.
 
Encountered 5 ruby-crowned kinglets laying on sidewalk essentially in shadow of our
arch here once.Apparently they struck mirrored glass windows of a downtown highrise.
Has anything ever been done to address like situations in other cities?
 
Steve, the idea of adding an extra feeder is the best one, or even more than one, if you have space for them. Last season, I had five feeders for my hummies, and all were busy, and there were fights, and chasing away, and all the things the hummies do to get to their food.
At the end of the season, I had swarms of them coming by dozens - and, I'm not exaggerating - and they were feeding, not really fighting, since they were preparing for their annual departure. I can't wait for their return.

It's unfortunate you've witnessed the accident of killing the weaker female. But think of the bright side, you've provided food for these magnificent little jewels, and I'm sure they liked it, and will be coming back.
 
Putting up several hummingbird feeders would definitely help. It would spread out the territorial fights over a wider area, and you would therefore be less likely to witness them.

Most US species of hummers will stake out prime feeding territory, and defend it against all other visitors, often even from their own mates. Violent encounters are the norm. Usually the encounters are non-lethal. Just observe the fights as you would a medieval joust or an WWII dogfight, root for you favorite, and be very very glad that they are not the size of chickens.

2 galleries of hummingbird photos, a total of about 80 photos at gregscott.artistwebsites.com. See incredible detail!
 
Daveash said:
Humans have collisions with windows also, as I have found to my cost on three occasions. I´ve bought some stickers to put on the glass but have not mounted them yet. If this will stop the bird collisions then I´ll stick them on. Rockfowl...sometimes you have good ideas.

daveash
Click to expand...

Stickers need to go on the OUTSIDE of the window glass.
If the sticker is on the inside the glass will still reflect and more crashes will happen.

Years ago I cleaned my sliding glass doors and did not return the stickers - once only! OUCH!
 
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