Because hummingbirds are
loners they bond with the
opposite sex
only for the few seconds it takes to mate.
In breeding season in
Costa Rica, the males "possess"
their own territories rich in
tropical flowers
to attract the
female hummingbirds. The female
hummingbirds gain a
rich food
supply
in exchange for offering the male
hummingbird sole paternity rights.
Costa Rica Hummingbirds compete for nectar and insects.
They guard their
territories fiercely, perching
high
near flowering bushes or feeders.
In duels the
hummers use
their bills and
claws
as weapons. They sometimes collide
into one another.
But the hummers are
seldom harmed by these
fights,
though
they may occasionally lose a few
feathers.
They
fight less when
food is scarce. Occasionally hummingbirds
will
attack other birds, even hawks and
crows.
They don't attack... human
beings, it's can be daunting,
to have a
whirring blur of feathers and a
needle-like
beak, zoom by just a few inches from your face.
Costa Rica Hummingbirds make a number of
bird calls. Hummingbirds are named for the
sounds of their flight, and
hummers use those sounds to communicate.
Male broad-tailed hummingbirds, produce an insistent
trill
with narrowed wing-tip feathers, and similarly
modified
out tail-feathers... make the
loud squeak, in the male's dive.
Costa Rica Hummingbirds
also have a vocal repertory
of chips, chatters and buzzes, by which
they signal
their
positions, declare their
moods and threaten
intruders.
Costa Rica Hummingbirds
communicate with
one
another, by making visual displays.
Male hummingbirds
sometimes raise the
feathers, bordering the gorget,
and toss their heads from side to
side, while uttering
shrill sounds.
Females and their young
do perched displays, in
which they spread their tail feathers,
to show the white
tips.
Sometimes... both male hummingbirds and female
hummingbirds,
do shuttle-flights, which are rapid back and
forth movements, in front of another bird. During the
shuttle
flight, the tail and gorget may be
displayed.
Dive display... is only done by
the male hummingbirds.
At key points in
the dive, buzzing, whistling, or popping
sounds
might be made, with the wing feathers
or the
vocal cords.
The dive is U-shaped.
Here, in Costa Rica...
We have watched an emerald
hummingbird which did a shuttle like this, in front
of a female... that was perched in
a hibiscus bush.
Looking intimidated, she moved her head back
and forth,
to
watch his awesome aerial movements, which were
only
inches from her face, then she
hung upside-down
by her
toes as he mounted her.
In some hummingbird species... the
males gather in communities, which are called leks.
Then they all sing
together and
entice female hummingbirds to come into their
territory for mating.
Nesting Hummingbirds
in Costa Rica
Costa Rica Hummingbird nests are often not
much larger
than a "thimble", loosely woven with cobwebs and flecks of
bark and
lined with silky plant down. Inside,
the female Hummingbird
will lay two eggs,
no larger than coffee beans.
The female hummer... builds
her nest, incubates her eggs,
and raises her young... by herself. 2
white eggs are laid
and she incubates them for
14 - 21 days, depending
on the
species.
Everything about hummingbirds...
is small and dainty.
The hummingbird nest is about as big as a
50-cent piece,
and inside the middle, it is about the
size of
a quarter.
Baby Hummingbirds need a
special protein formula...
of crushed insects. Hummingbird Babies
do not
survive
on sugar water alone, which will result in
deformities
and death. Sugar water... will also
make
their feathers sticky
and can cause damage.
The mother hummingbird... catches hundreds of
small
insects, to feed to her babies.
The young hummingbirds... make their first flight in
18 - 29 days, depending on their species, food supply,
and
weather conditions. They often sit on the side of
their
nest for 2 - 3 days... to exercise
their wings, before
taking their first flight.
It is enchanting to see... when the mother hummingbird
comes
with food and two little baby
hummingbird heads
pop up.
The mother hummingbird
perches... on the side of the
nest, and stretches her neck, and she holds
her bill down
to regurgitate nectar
and half-digested insects, to her
babies. Her throat swells, as she
feeds her little ones.
Male hummingbirds contribute
in no way... to the building
of nests
or the care of young. (There are
a few rare
exceptions of male
Ruby-throated and Male Rufous
Humming
birds, sometimes incubating eggs.
At about 10 days of
age and sometimes sooner, the
mother
hummingbird no longer
broods the nestlings at
night time.
She spends more time catching insects,
and
she whisks in and out,
to
feed her hummingbird babies.
Female Hummingbirds... do not re-use
the same nest,
but often build again at the same location, occasionally
right on top of the old nest.
