|
|
Post by whsputnam on Aug 30, 2009 11:18:49 GMT -5
I have three Ruby Throateds, one male and two females that have been here since April. I don't know for sure, but I think the same three have been coming for the past three years. Is this something they would do? It is always the same: one male and two females. They begrudgingly share two feeders and are pretty active all day.
I live in a rural area of Putnam County near Palatka and I really enjoy these little guys.
|
|
|
|
Post by Steve Backes on Aug 31, 2009 8:39:19 GMT -5
It is possible that you could be seeing the same birds. Three years is not so long that you would expect the birds to fail to survive migration. I believe there is a high mortality to hummingbirds in their first year. If they can survive that first migration it's not unreasonable to think they wouldn't survive the next two. I believe hummingbirds do return to their breeding grounds each year.
What you may be seeing are two or more females who have neighboring territories that share your yard. If there are more, you may only be seeing two at one time. There may be one or more males as as well. Males and females don't typically share a territory. The male roams to rendezvous with the female but then returns to his territory. There could be more than one male but you only see one at a time due to their roaming behavior.
It's really hard to say without a distinguishing mark on the bird like a flawed feather, marks on the bill, or through banding. In some cases, you might be able to tell a bird by it's familiarity with you but then there's no way to tell if two birds haven't grown to know you at the same time.
Steve
|
|
