I had a great fun spending time with hummers in Russ Pitman Park - it is only a few miles away from my home so I need a few minutes to get there. Calliope Hummingbird is molting now its primaries - only 4 outmost are old _http://www.pbase.com/image/147607352_ (http://www.pbase.com/image/147607352) . This is perfectly in time range (thanks folks from Louisiana for their studies) but it also means that this tiny male dropped weight to achieved alleviated aerodynamic force requirements for weight support during hovering (Chai, 1997). If both those males (Calliope and Broad-billed) spend winter in the park it will be fun to watch them molting. Broad-billed is quite a character, the whole park is its territory and he furiously try to chase away everything small enough to avoid fights. Calliope sometimes spend most of the day either hiding somewhere or, most likely, outside the park. BB keeps moving from one patch of shrimp plants to another keeping eyes on intruders - he was chasing away kinglets going after them even high into the tree canopies. Both hummers spend a lot time flycatching and in breaks drink shrimp plant nectar. Neither me or anybody else I talk to saw them drinking nectar from feeders. Great as I hate photographing hummers on feeders. Rufus is trying to feed at feeders but probably BB is keeping him away from this area most of the time. Both hummers (especially BB) are often feeding on shrimp plants in very deep shade so photography can be tricky, same during dusk hours: _http://www.pbase.com/image/147607334_ (http://www.pbase.com/image/147607334) I had to stop processing images as there are too many anyway but in these folders one can find examples illustrating both species. One series of photos is showing Calliope feeding at dusk (1600 ISO and veeery slow shutter speed) so photos are very grainy. _http://www.pbase.com/mbb/broadbilled_hummingbird_november_2628_2012_ (http://www.pbase.com/mbb/broadbilled_hummingbird_november_2628_2012) _http://www.pbase.com/mbb/calliope_hummingbird_november_2628_2012_ (http://www.pbase.com/mbb/calliope_hummingbird_november_2628_2012) And for one who wants one in all this image show both species in different poses _http://www.pbase.com/mbb/image/147562229_ (http://www.pbase.com/mbb/image/147562229) Mark B Bartosik Houston, Texas _http://www.pbase.com/mbb/from_the_field_ (http://www.pbase.com/mbb/from_the_field) Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner
