# Explain this hummingbird behavior? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232 "2017-01-15T17:00:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/21 "2017-01-17T01:02:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m surprised **Colibri** isn’t already in this thread: He’s a bona fide expert on birds in general, and hummingbirds in particular. I don’t think he likes me for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/22 "2017-01-17T01:14:12Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He’s busy guarding his feeders. > > Hummingbirds, like most birds, are quite territorial. They don’t like other animals near their feeders. I agree, with the caveat that if you are also the animal who fills the feeder, they seem to figure that out, and are a bit more tolerant. I have a 1 quart feeder right outside my door, so its my daily ritual I’ve rescued some stuck in skylights before, and they “seemed” to remember me, and were very tame for the rest of the season. We’ve had some very close nests here in Santa Barbara and its been fun to watch the eggs hatch and then the birds maturing and leaving the nest. Watching fledglings try out their wings…like little high speed moths. They need insect protein to survive as much as nectar, so compost piles are also big favorites.😃 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/23 "2017-01-17T15:44:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m surprised **Colibri** isn’t already in this thread: He’s a bona fide expert on birds in general, and hummingbirds in particular. With a name like **Colibri** , he better be…😃 Says the guy who isn’t a botanist… ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/24 "2017-01-17T16:46:33Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He’s busy guarding his feeders. > > Hummingbirds, like most birds, are quite territorial. They don’t like other animals near their feeders. A local conservation agent told me the same thing. He also said that once they get used to you, they will start leaving you alone. My own experience is they seem to be creatures of habit too. We added onto our front porch recently and I moved the feeder for better viewing. They eventually found the new location, but some of them would still go to the old location, hover and circle for a bit before flying ten feet down the porch to feed. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/25 "2017-01-17T18:42:32Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > We too have hummingbirds and once one was being very aggressive every time I approached the feeder–flying and hovering within a few inches of me making a lot of noise. Turned out there was nest right there with babies in it, that she was apparently trying to protect. They are extremely protective mothers & their babies are about the ugliest baby birds you’ll ever see. They look like weird insects. More specifically, to me they brought to mind _solpugids_, known in the Soutwestern US as “Sun Spiders” or “Wind Scorpions”; horrifying close-up headshot here: _[http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachnids/solifugids/images/solifugid\_303\_b.jpg](http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/arachnids/solifugids/images/solifugid_303_b.jpg)_ We once had the pleasure of noticing a hummer depositing a strand of silk or fur on a shrub branch outside my office window. I went out and took a peek and sure enough there were two or three strands laid there, visible only because I knew exactly where to look. Spent the next couple of months observing the entire cycle of nest buidling, egg laying (2), hatching, feeding, fledging, buzzing off. It was a wonderful experience, but shortly after they’d hatched we snuck a look at the hatchlings (while Mom was away on business), and we were shocked by how ugly the chicks were. Our immediate reaction, in perfect unison, was “they look like sun spiders!” A few days later their appearance was more standard baby birdish. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/26 "2017-01-18T06:02:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > We have Anna’s hummingbirds here year round, and I put out a feeder in the winter for them. Whenever I go out onto the deck, I can hear a hummer “chipping” at me, but I don’t know if that’s a warning to stay away from its food or a greeting of some sort. They can be very brave (or aggressive, perhaps) when I’m near the feeder. This morning I stepped out and hung up the feeder, and a hummer flew over near the feeder, chip-chip-chip, then buzzed over to hover within a foot of my face and just sort of stared at me and made his chipping noise. > > So is he trying to warn me off, or is there some other behavioral thing going on? My internet search was inconclusive. When I get that behaviour, I usually look around and notice the feeder is empty. They ain’t shy about letting me know when it’s time to clean and refill the feeder. But if you’d just filled it, maybe he/she was saying “thanks!” This cold snap was the first time ever that I went to check the feeders when I got home, and was holding the feeder, and a hummer came around. I went still and sure enough, it drank as I held the feeder. Very cool. (Or very cold, as the weather was.) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/27 "2017-01-18T08:57:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Interesting stuff. I wondered about what happens at night; how they survive without feeding that high metabolism. They go into a state called “torpor”, which is a lot like hibernation. Their metabolism drops drastically along with their body temperature and they can even be mistaken for dead. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232/28 "2017-01-18T14:54:26Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > They go into a state called “torpor”, which is a lot like hibernation. Their metabolism drops drastically along with their body temperature and they can even be mistaken for dead. Yeah, that was explained in the video. Interesting stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-hummingbird-behavior/777232.md?page=1)