Hummingbirds

[snopes]

Comment:

Hummingbird Question 1: My friend says that hummingbirds are very
aggressive to humans, and will peck out people's eyes, if aggravated. I
think my friend heard this from her pal from Mexico.
In any case, I have never seen this behavior.

Hummingbird Question 2: This same friend says that if you feed a
hummingbird, you must continue feeding them, because they become
unnaturally dependent upon your food.

[Silas Sparkhammer]

#1, nonsense. Utter hogwash. At very worst, they might "buzz" you if you intrude on their territory, but they are absolutely incapable of using their bills to poke out anyone's eyes.

#2, I don't know about this one, but I strongly doubt it. These birds migrate annually, over hundreds, even thousands of miles. They are very good at foraging. Sure, when food is easily found, they'll take advantage of it, but if an easy supply dries up, they aren't going to keep coming round the empty feeder and die there. They may be little featherbrains, but they aren't that stupid!

Silas

[boogers]

Hummingbirds are fairly aggressive but mostly towards other birds (I've seen them chase hawks!) I've noticed they will dive bomb me but never when I am facing them--then they just hover in front of me. Based on this I doubt they would go for anyone's eyes.

I don't know about the second question because I find hummingbird friendly flowers to be easier to manage than a feeder. Agastache flowers never need to be refilled.

[snapdragonfly]

A lady I know, who is a talented artist and also a huge bird lover and expert, says PLEASE don't stop feeding the hummingbirds in the fall. They know when they need to migrate, and won't just not migrate just because someone has a hummingbird feeder out. They desperately need the food for their journey.

I used to keep a feeder but it dripped and was a hassle so instead I planted a lot of hummingbird friendly plants and I have just as many.

I don't think that it matters how you feed them; it's just good to feed them. They, like all the birds, are losing habitat.

As for the pecking out of eyes - rofl. No.

They ARE very aggressive towards each other, though - they are MEAN little gits! But so pretty we love them anyway.

[Diehard]

We feed our humming birds around here but also take note that they also go for the flowers that they like so they are getting the best of both!

[Lady Neeva]

I think the aggressive thing got started because of their habit of diving at intruders. I know I've been buzzed by hummingbirds before, but they never aimed for my eyes that I could tell heh. All that would happen if they did is they'd go SPLAT on my glasses though, so maybe they figure it's not worth it lol.

We've got one who hangs out in the neighbor's yard behind us, who will occasionally come hover in front of our patio door and torture my cats. He'll fly right in front of the window until one of them (usually Isis, she's our poor impulse control kitty) can't take it any more and leaps... face first into the glass.

[Troberg]

Hummingbird Question 2: This same friend says that if you feed a
hummingbird, you must continue feeding them, because they become
unnaturally dependent upon your food.

I don't know about hummingbirds, but I have heard the same thing about feeding birds in general, especially in the winter.

[Brad from Georgia]

The hummingbird is the only bird species known to have developed weapons of mass destruction. The hummingbird bomb, or H-bomb, is tiny but packed with enough nuclear material to destroy an area larger than a quarter in diameter. Hummingbirds, as is well known, hum because they forgot the words. They react badly to ridicule, and their nests are woven like a reticule. Make of this what you will. The ruby-throated hummingbird actually does not have a ruby in its throat, nor is it a true bird (it is a species of whale). For their size, hummingbirds have extraordinary strength, and three of them once lifted George Clooney more than an inch off the ground. They might have carried him away and fed him to their young, but one of them lost his grip. A hummingbird once stole William Shatner's toupee and was later seen wearing it at a Hollywood hot spot (the La Brea Tar Pits).

If cornered by a hummingbird, the thing to do is to shout a warning ("Cuidado! Hay llamas!") and curl up into a ball. The worst that can then happen is that the hummingbird will sit on you and try to hatch you, but it will give up after nineteen days.

Hummingbirds do not, as is popularly believed, pollinate flowers. They do, however, deliver flowers (they are a subsidiary of the FTD). The ancient Romans worshipped hummingbirds as tiny, useless gods, but then they discovered that hummingbirds taste pretty good when baked and dipped in honey, and the rest is history.

[amorrison50]

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

The hummingbird is the only bird species known to have developed weapons of mass destruction. The hummingbird bomb, or H-bomb, is tiny but packed with enough nuclear material to destroy an area larger than a quarter in diameter. Hummingbirds, as is well known, hum because they forgot the words. They react badly to ridicule, and their nests are woven like a reticule. Make of this what you will. The ruby-throated hummingbird actually does not have a ruby in its throat, nor is it a true bird (it is a species of whale). For their size, hummingbirds have extraordinary strength, and three of them once lifted George Clooney more than an inch off the ground. They might have carried him away and fed him to their young, but one of them lost his grip. A hummingbird once stole William Shatner's toupee and was later seen wearing it at a Hollywood hot spot (the La Brea Tar Pits).

If cornered by a hummingbird, the thing to do is to shout a warning ("Cuidado! Hay llamas!") and curl up into a ball. The worst that can then happen is that the hummingbird will sit on you and try to hatch you, but it will give up after nineteen days.

From now on, when the feeder goes empty and they catch me outside and just hover there... staring at me... I will be very afraid. I can't even imagine what they have been thinking as they do that.

[Horse Chestnut]

Brad, from now on, whenever I have a question concerning natural history, I'm coming to you!

Who thinks up this stuff? Of all the birds to have an "eye pecking" myth about why hummingbirds? They might be the world's least intimidating creature.
I know that they are very aggressive towards other hummingbirds that try to enter their territory. I've seen them chase each other when one is using the feeder and another tries to come over too. But I'm not sure what kind of hummingbirds you guys have that hover around and dive bomb you. Ha. The ones around my house are so timid and frightened of people that they will fly away if they even see me passing the window inside the kitchen.

[inkrose115]

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

The hummingbird is the only bird species known to have developed weapons of mass destruction. The hummingbird bomb, or H-bomb, is tiny but packed with enough nuclear material to destroy an area larger than a quarter in diameter. Hummingbirds, as is well known, hum because they forgot the words. They react badly to ridicule, and their nests are woven like a reticule. Make of this what you will. The ruby-throated hummingbird actually does not have a ruby in its throat, nor is it a true bird (it is a species of whale). For their size, hummingbirds have extraordinary strength, and three of them once lifted George Clooney more than an inch off the ground. They might have carried him away and fed him to their young, but one of them lost his grip. A hummingbird once stole William Shatner's toupee and was later seen wearing it at a Hollywood hot spot (the La Brea Tar Pits).

If cornered by a hummingbird, the thing to do is to shout a warning ("Cuidado! Hay llamas!") and curl up into a ball. The worst that can then happen is that the hummingbird will sit on you and try to hatch you, but it will give up after nineteen days.

Hummingbirds do not, as is popularly believed, pollinate flowers. They do, however, deliver flowers (they are a subsidiary of the FTD). The ancient Romans worshipped hummingbirds as tiny, useless gods, but then they discovered that hummingbirds taste pretty good when baked and dipped in honey, and the rest is history.

Please answer more questions in this way. I'm dying here, dying!

[Brad from Georgia]

Originally Posted by inkrose115

Please answer more questions in this way. I'm dying here, dying!

Be careful what you wish for. One Christmas season I went absolutely nuts in describing various critters on some weird thread....