Saturday, May 7, 2011

Hello, Sweetie

All For Me

The hummers are back! Well, at least one of them is.

So far, this timid little female is the only one to have found the feeder. Last year we had returnees hovering outside the kitchen window before I had even put out the feeder there. They apparently remembered its location from the summer before, which I found absolutely amazing.


And while we're talking bird behavior...

Let me tell you what the cardinals are doing.

A pair lands on the deck rail. The male flies over to the feeder, returns with a nice juicy seed, and gives it to the female. She accepts it with great dignity, as if it were her due.

It must be the birdie equivalent of buying her dinner first. In any case, it's quite sweet and funny. Have you ever seen birds do this?

8 comments:

Rambling Woods said...

I haven't seen any yet...sweet photo...

EG CameraGirl said...

Very nice! How exciting! I haven't seen any hummers yet this year. Pretty soon though...I hope!

snowwhite said...

Wonderful story. The hovering bird seems as if it were on an invisible bird perch! I love this amazing photo very much! Have a nice day!

lifeshighway said...

Nice stop action photo! As always I am in awe of your mad skills.

I have never seen that particular cardinal behavior, I suspect he must have some male suitors.

Debbie said...

wow....awesome capture. i have been getting lots of hummers but have not gotten a photo yet.

it looks like this feeder is suction cuped to the window, i may try that. i have several feeders on the windows but have never seen one like that for the hummmers.

MyMaracas said...

Hi all,

That hummer feeder is called The Jewel Box. I love it and highly recommend it:

http://www.aspectsinc.com/407_JewelBox.html

Dick Klade said...

Good to know someone else saw the courteous cardinal feeding behavior. I saw it happen near the feeder right outside our breakfast nook door a month ago. Nobody believed me! Now they will.

MyMaracas said...

Dick, Nice to meet you!

As for the cardinal courting thing, I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it myself.