So what does a hummingbird fight to the death look like?

[InvisibleNinja]

This post is old so not sure you’ll get my reply but here it goes.

Okay so I was somewhere between 6 and 8 when I was in the back yard of my aunts house. She had a hummingbird feeder and we used to watch them all the time. Well this particular day my mom had come to pick me up and we were out back, I can’t remember why. 2 hummingbirds were hanging around and fighting over the feeder. One of them flew up and sat on a wire that was strung across above the house but still low enough for us to see at a close distance. All of a sudden the other one flew at the bird on the wire and stabbed him right in the chest. The one stabbed fell to the ground. I was so freaked out! I went over to the one on the ground as did my aunt and my mom. Sadly the bird was dead, as he was stabbed right through the heart.

We buried the bird and I carry this story in my heart, as I will for the rest of my life. Being so young and seeing one of the most majestic birds be so cruel devastated me.

Most people wouldn’t believe this story and I totally get that, but it’s true. It absolutely happened and even my mom remembers it to this day. I’m 32 now so it happened in the early 90s.

So there you have it. Even beautiful hummingbirds can commit cold blooded murder. My views on birds in general changed that day.

@Finagle

I have hummingbirds at my feeders. Or more specifically, I have one male who’s sure that they are his feeders, and I have a few other hummingbirds who make frequent attempts to fly in under the radar and have a few sips of nectar. This usually results in a furious blur of hummingbird politics which ends up with the interloper flying off with the local proprietor in hot pursuit.

My question is – what happens if the interloper refuses to flee and just ignores the attacking hummingbird’s hissyfits? What can one hummingbird do to another? Can they do serious damage with their beaks? Would a hummingbird actually damage or kill another hummingbird, or do they rely strictly on intimidation?

As a side question, I’ve seen videos of feeders in which hummingbirds appear to be co-existing in reasonable harmony. Often there’s a cloud of 10 or more hummingbirds each waiting their turn for a spot at the feeder. Under what circumstances do hummingbirds switch mode from a Hobbesian “every bird for himself” to a more communal flock behavior? Is it sheer volume of feeders?