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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tomjenner" data-source="post: 260645" data-attributes="member: 8453">Hi WolfgangWelcome to Birdforum. Because of the high energy costs of flight in hummingbirds it is very difficult for them to cross large expanses of water. There are many species of bird that have crossed oceans, but hummingbirds are not capable of doing this, so it could not have flown wild from the Americas. As others suggest, it is possibly an escape or a hawk moth.  Please don't feel bad that we are suggesting it is a moth; only a few months ago I saw what I was certain was a Black-crested Coquette (a type of hummingbird), but only when I saw it better did I realise that it was a sphynx moth. I've not seen it written anywhere, but my guess is that these small coquettes may acttually mimic sphynx months to avoid being attacked by other hummingbirds, which are very aggressive. Does anyone know if there is likely to be any truth to this?Tom</blockquote>