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Here is an excellent website on the ruby-throated hummingbird. http://www.rubythroat.org/RTHUMain.html Hummingbirds use a form of daily hibernation called "torpor" which is a rest period where body temperature drops and metabolism is slowed down. This usually occurs at night, but can also occur during the day. Torpor is energy-saving, but hummers in a torpid state are more susceptible to predation. Also, because their metabolism is slowed down, they cannot make fat as they can when they are fully active. I just read a paper in which the authors studied feeding territory and fat formation in the blue-throated hummingbird. They found that dominant hummers that guard nectar sources tend to use torpor to a lesser degree and form more body fat. This is particularly important in migration when food sources may be difficult to find. A note about color. The metallic reds and greens seen in hummers are not caused by red or green pigments. The color is "structural". That is, the microscopic spaces between the structural components of the feather allow only a certain wavelength of light to be transmitted (reflected) back to the viewer. When viewed at an oblique angle, the microscopic spacings change size relative to the viewer and that is why the red throat, for example, appears black. This type of coloration is quite common in nature, especially among insects like butterflies and tiger beetles. Hope I haven't been too long-winded! Cheers, Pat Patrick Beauzay Department of Entomology 217 Hultz Hall, Bolley Drive North Dakota State University Fargo, ND 58105 701-231-9491 patrick.beau...@ndsu.nodak.edu ------=_20050814121922_53012 Content-Type: text/html; name="untitled-2" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="untitled-2" <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Tahoma; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:blue; text-decoration:underline;} p.MsoAutoSig, li.MsoAutoSig, div.MsoAutoSig {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.EmailStyle17 {font-family:Arial; color:black;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> </head> <body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue> <div class=Section1> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Hello All,</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>I have 3 Hummingbird feeders up—all 3 feeders have 8 feeding ports. One of the feeders often has birds at all feeding ports plus some hummer waiting in the air for a free spot. I’ve seen as many as 16 hummers around that feeder. The other two feeders are each “guarded” by a hummer that has laid claim to it. No other hummers are allowed at the other two feeders except the guard hummer. The guard hummers at my place do fly around “patrolling” their feeders. The 3 feeders are about 10 ft. apart.</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Judith Sparrow</span></font></p> <p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>"The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page."</span></font></p> <p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>--</span></font><font color=black face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:black'>Saint Augustine</span></font><font color=black face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:black'> of Hippo (A. D. 354-430)</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> </span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> mou-net-ad...@cbs.umn.edu [mailto:mou-net-ad...@cbs.umn.edu] <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Ron Green<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Saturday, August 13, 2005 10:33 AM<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> mou-...@cbs.umn.edu; mnb...@lists.mnbird.net<br> <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [mou] Hummingbird Question</span></font></p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I have a couple of questions regarding our resident Ruby-Throated HB's (male and female) that I am hoping someone could educate my wife and me on regarding a several issues?</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>1) Last night, my wife and I were eating dinner and watching the male HB. Anyway, we just noticed a bright red patch under its throat. I have taken quite a few close-up images and have not seen this before. Is the probably another male, or is it a change in the one that has been hanging around the most?</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>2) The last week or so it seems that the male has shifted to coming to the feeder frequently, but not necessarily to drink. It flys around, and darts back and forth. It seems like it is patroling? Is this territorial behavior? We do have a female that shows up occaisionally and he does tend to chase her off. But, she does come back when he is not around. Also, there is another male that does come around but is quickly chased by our resident one. However, the one getting chased off seems rather persistent and keeps coming back.</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>3) I was at Wild Birds Unlimited last Sunday to give a talk on Digital Photography. I happened to talk with a customer of the store who was telling me that she had quite a few HB's at her feeder at one time (I thought she said 10, but don't quote me on that). I was surprised based on what happens at out feeder and from a talk we had heard from a HB expert at the </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Quarry</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Hill</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Nature</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> </span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Center</span></font><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> around February or March of this year. </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I would be interested in some inputs on the above. Thank you in advance.</span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p> </div> <div> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Ron Green<br> <a href="http://www.greensphotoimages.com/gallery">http://www.greensphotoimages.com/gallery</a></span></font></p> </div> </div> </body> </html> ------=_20050814121922_53012--