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Post by Mark G. on May 7, 2014 20:57:32 GMT -5
I now have a male and a female frequenting my feeder and playing with each other. One will feed while watching for the other an the other one will eventually show up and they will fly off together. Does anyone know if RT's or any hummers mate for life? I usually have a pair show up each summer and I guess nest in the trees behind my house. Later on one or two juveniles will showgirl show up. Just curious if Mom and Pop are the same hummers.
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Post by Joe M on May 9, 2014 9:03:13 GMT -5
Mark,
Hummers do not mate for but a brief moment! Nest building, tending to the nest and feeding the nestlings is all done by the female.
I'm afraid the males only serve one purpose unlike many other species.
Joe M.
Lakeland
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Post by Mark G. on May 15, 2014 6:43:55 GMT -5
Hi Joe, thanks for responding. What do the males do while the female is taking care of the nest and young ones. I always have a male hanging around. At least I think it is the same one. It could be different males passing through. I have another question. Do the female hummers come back to the same nesting area each year or is it just coincedence. Just curious.
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Post by Steve Backes on May 15, 2014 20:26:48 GMT -5
Mark,
The males spend their summers looking to breed with any female that enters his territory while chasing away any males. They are not monogamous and do not help with building the nest or raising the young. Females have been known to return to previous nesting areas and may even use the old nest.
Steve
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Post by Joe M on May 17, 2014 16:12:57 GMT -5
Hi Joe, thanks for responding. What do the males do while the female is taking care of the nest and young ones. I always have a male hanging around. At least I think it is the same one. It could be different males passing through. I have another question. Do the female hummers come back to the same nesting area each year or is it just coincedence. Just curious. Mark, Steve answered a your question about what the males do while the female is tending to the nest and her offspring! He spends all his time looking to mate with other females. Hummngbirds are no different tn other species of birds, in that they exhibit extrodinary "site fidelity". The meaning being that during their lifetime they return to familiar territory during the winter months and also the summer (breeding) months. Winter banding data indicates that a significant number of hummers return to the "exact" same yards for multiple years. Data is sparse for the summer months but there is no reason to believe that the few places in Fl that hummers breed are not the result of breeding females returing to the same area or their offspring returning to the same area. Joe M. Lakeland |
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Post by Mark G. on May 18, 2014 22:41:01 GMT -5
Thanks for the info Joe and Steve. The hummingbird activity seems to slowed down at my house. I have a female that visits my feeder early in the morning when the sun is just coming up but nothing the rest of the day. Of course, I am not monitoring the feeder every minute. She could be visiting periodically and I haven't seen it. I have not seem a male in awhile. When the flowering trees next door bloom, then the activity should pick up.
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