Friday, May 15, 2009

Speaking of Hummingbirds

Hummingbird Skeleton

I'm super fascinated by the hummingbirds drawn to the feeder at my window. Boss Man is wearing himself out keeping other birds away, but they do get in to sneak a few sucks. Apparently, a dominant territorial man-bird will allow a female at his feeder after he's mated with her.

Girl gotta put out to get fed.

Look at the hummingbird's skeleton. Its forked tongue does a long wrap-around the skull and attaches to its forehead. Look at those wing bones, like filigree, and that way-cool neck, like beads. Wow. That little coccyx. I love this creature.

5 comments:

Maryanne Stahl said...

ooh I love hums too and that skeleton is very cool. a nest the size of a quarter! gotta love that.

I once held a hummingbird in my hand, btw, after rescuing it from a window in my garage. really amazing moment.

Alicia said...

Oh sadness, I found a hummingbird face down in my fountain/pond, doing the dead bird's float. Meanwhile, chaos at the feeder. Mr. Macho won't let any other bird feed, but he can't guard it continuously so they sneak in, sometimes 4 at a time. When he sees them, he goes berserk (meanwhile, Mr. Macho is looking more like a pigeon than an H.bird, for all that sugar).

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Gretel said...

Hi Alicia - I stumbled upon your blog while trying to figure out how to extract a hummingbird skeleton from a dead bird my 8 year old found last summer (it's been in our freezer since!). I'm wondering where you found the photo of the skeleton you shared in this entry - or if you actually extracted it yourself? Thanks for any clues you can share! (gretel@meyerodell.com)

Alicia said...

Hi Gretel, thanks for stopping by (I had to blow the dust off this blog). I found the photo at www.rubythroat.org. If you click on the image, you will see the specific URL of the photo. I don't know if they could tell you how to do it, or a taxidermist? Good luck! Meanwhile, my birds are thriving and I've added another feeder. I make a quart of syrup A DAY.