David Attenborough in his film about the Hummingbirds, The Secret Lives of Hummingbirds said, “They are the celebrities, the stars of the bird world.” I agree with this. Who can outshine hummingbirds?

This summer Christiane and I have been spending a lot of time on our deck at the lake watching hummingbirds. We put out feeders filled with sugar water—1 part sugar for every part water—and wait for the birds to come to us. We pull out binoculars on the little table between us and are entertained for hours. We can sit there reading and watching. The entertainment is astounding. Every few minutes another hummer comes by or is chased by one of his cantankerous colleagues.

Humming birds do not play well with others.  They cannot abide a competitor no matter how much abundance in feed.  They will spend enormous energy flying after foes to make it clear to the others that this is their territory and no one else’s.

It is strange that they are so territorial. In the forests of south America that is necessary. They must fend off competitors for food. In the front yard of our cabin at the lake they waste their time and energy chasing rivals away from their food source—my feeders. Perhaps in millions of years they will adapt and change if some people continue to support them with supplies of sugary nectar substitution

This was one of the rare males I saw this year. Are the males dying out? Teh gorget was more orange than red.

I have been trying to catch them in flight with my camera and my big lens, and that is an incredible challenge.  They rarely stay long in one place.  But again, the fun is in the chase. They are so fast they fly by in a blur.  But modern high-speed cameras can slow them down when 1 second becomes 15 seconds.  When you slow them down you can look into their secret world.