Hummingbirds~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life


I can’t believe I finally got a photo of a hummingbird’s forked tongue! I have never captured the fork at the end of the tongue because it typically springs open once a hummer inserts her tongue in a flower. But here it is, for us to see!

We have somewhere around 70 or more hummers at The Holler now, so we are getting lots of very bright color. Hummers flash their colors at will, sometimes as warnings when sparring. This guy was caught at dusk, flashing away to keep intruders at bay.


Once a year, at peak swarm, I feed the hummers by hand. I only do it once, for about an hour because I don’t want the hummers to become tame, thinking all humans can be trusted, because unfortunately, as we all know, some humans should not be trusted.
By the way, the white dust you see on this hummer’s beak is pollen.


I saw this photo that went viral awhile ago, where a woman was photographed, with a hummingbird drinking nectar out of her mouth. People loved it, but it bothered me. Did the photographer consider how tiny and wild hummingbirds are? Did he consider how easily this woman’s viral and bacterial load could kill hummingbirds? Did they think about how taming a wild hummingbird, for a photo, through nectar offering, and then withholding, might lead a migrating hummingbird to harm at the hands of humans?

Garden nectar feeder stations have brought seriously declining hummingbird populations back to healthy numbers. Handled responsibly, garden feeders are important for hummingbird population survival. But taming wild birds that migrate, to perform tricks, isn’t helping hummingbird survival.


Taking these photos is very difficult. I have a tripod, but don’t ever use it. Why have a stationary camera in a moving world? Wild animals don’t find this interesting. So, I hold the feeder with my left hand and take the photo with my right. After about 10 minutes this starts to hurt!


Thankfully my son volunteered to hold the feeder.

The Holler hummers do know us and have learned to trust us, many of them were born here. As mentioned a few stay year round and others return annually. Wherever they stay when they migrate south for the winter, they survive and thrive. Maybe they hang out in a garden in Central America where a bird lover keeps their feeders going and the hummers happy!


Cheers to you from the incredible, wild, and much-loved, Holler Hummers~

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380 thoughts on “Hummingbirds~”

  6. Hey Cindy,

    How are you? Hoping all is well in the Holler 🙂

    Outstanding captures of these exquisite little birds and all testament to your patience and perseverance. The opening photograph on its own is an image to captivate. My favourite is the third image…perhaps because it also delineates scale, offers superb portrayal of delicacy and strength and foregrounds the outstanding precision and control Hummers have in their flight to feed. It is breath-taking/ Breath-taking also to consider the mechanics at work, Hummers fascinate me I the same way as Bees. It is the perceived impossibility in their magical ability that prevails as a wonder. Thank you Cindy, blown away as always 🙂

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

    ~ Holler Hummers ~ By ~ DN

    Izzy whizzy wings busy busy
    Busy with dizzy holler and dash
    Busy with fizzy feathers so pretty
    Pretty with sunlight and flash
    ~
    Pretty and bright flitting in flight
    Flitting with wild verve and splash
    A splash with brash a slash with thrash
    But always a Hummingbird to thee.
    ~
    A gift for thee oh sweet pollen fantasy,
    On tiny wings burning hot with fire
    Burning with yearning near giddy with turning
    Turning and twisting with desire.
    ~
    Desire for the wire upon which to perch
    Perch and search with tongue extended
    Extended fork ended distended intended
    To sip and sup from the nectar cup:
    To drink from thy Feeders of Love.
    ~

    I like the little guy at the end…his emerald a flash cutting dash at the wingtip end of your post 😉

    Namaste 🙂

    DN

    Reply

  9. Wow!!! These are awesome shots. Not only from you are able to get the birds to trust you to feed off your hand and your ability to capture such events with one hand. Amazing!

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  10. WOW, WOW, WOW. That photo of the forked tongue is amazing, Cindy! What a wonderful blog! What kind of camera do you use that you can hold a feeder in one hand and photograph with the other? Thanks so much for sharing this.

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  11. Always love seeing your hummingbirds, Cindy. The forked tongue is definitely a prized photo. Interesting how close they will come to feed on the nectar. <3

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    1. Pretty horrific isn’t it. Anything for a photo is a no go for me. I don’t like invasive street photos that impinge on people’s right to privacy either. Photographers need to have ethics.

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  34. Oh Cindy, I’ve such a soft spot for the wee darlings and nobody can photograph them like you. Your appreciation seeps into your photos. Before moving here, in Sacramento, I had a garden full of lavender. Needless to say, I had a garden of Humming birds. I also had a woodpecker who was in love with the old telephone poll on the corner in front of my house. 🙂 Beautiful post. As for the woman who had the poor birds feed from her mouth, you are so right, she is only trying to impress others with no concern for the lovely hummings.

    Reply

    1. I wish I could get our woodpeckers to come closer, but they remain elusive. I get shots of them rarely, so they have become my holy grail. Enjoy your August in gorgeous France dear Lea!

      Reply

  35. Amazing photos. That’s cool that you captured the “forked tongue.” By the way, I used your method of homemade nectar (one part sugar, four parts water, red food coloring) and it worked. We’re starting to get a lot of hummers in our backyard now. Thanks!

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  36. What a pity we don’t have them here… they are so lovely! But you are quite right that they should not be made to trust humans… and certainly not tamed for the sake of some tricks… ! Before you know it, they will end up in cages to be shown to friends and neighbours – just to name one of the dangers… :-/
    <3

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  40. Thanks for sharing your beautiful hummingbird photos and wise warnings about how we treat them. Too often people try to tame wild creatures or turn them into parlor tricks. Thanks for caring enough to let them be.

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  42. Cindy, your photos are worthy of National Geographic!! The detail on these tiny birds is amazing, and I so agree with your stand on protecting them from becoming trained monkeys!

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  45. How beautiful Cindy and that shot of the forked tongue is one in a million moment.. I agree with you about feeding the humming bird from that woman’s mouth.. not hygienic for her or the bird. Such incredible creatures and to have them on your doorstep must be incredible. I have put in the blogger daily and copyrighted the image for you.. I hope that is okay. hugs xx♥

    Reply

  46. Pingback: Smorgasbord Blogger Daily – Wednesday 16th August 2017 – Dan Alatorre, Angie Quantrell, Maverick on the Move and Cindy Knoke | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

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