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aggressive hummer and grackle



Hello,

I have observed a few (possibly unusual?) things lately and would like to
get others' thoughts regarding them if I could.  

First of all, the other day my husband saw a grackle pin down a small bird
on the ground (a sparrow or house finch-he couldn't see well enough to tell
for sure).  It was pinned down on its back underneath the grackle and
struggled to get free.  As I was getting ready to go out and walk towards
them in hopes of the grackle releasing the bird, it broke free.  Has anyone
observed this sort of thing before, and what could have been going on-a
fight of some sort??  I have never heard of nor witnessed this sort of
behavior before, at least not regarding grackles anyway.  Is it common for
them to do such things?

Secondly, while I have read and heard much about male ruby-throated hummers
maintaining an aggressive defense of "their" feeder(s), I have not yet heard
of the same behavior regarding the females.  Since spring we have had a very
possessive little female ruby-throated (we call her "Ruby"-no points for
originality for us!!).  As far as we can tell, she appears to be in our
yard/woods nearly all day.  When she is not at the feeder or chasing others
away from it, she can usually be found on one of her three favorite perches
at our wood's edge, intently guarding "her" feeder.  As can be expected, in
these last few weeks we have seen quite an increase of hummers in our yard,
all of which get chased away immediately by Ruby.  Lately our yard is
constantly full of the non-stop sights and sounds of hummer chases. We have
mostly other female hummers, but when the occasional male appears Ruby is
quick to chase him away as well.  In fact, this past week we have even seen
her relentlessly pursue a chickadee and a titmouse, chasing them away from
where they had been perched.  Though they had been perched in the general
vicinity of Ruby's favorite perching spots, they were still a good bit away
from her and her perch.  Is it common for female ruby-throats to be so
aggressive and possessive, to hummers of both sexes and other birds as well?
We are just curious, and any insight will be appreciated.  I thank you in
advance for any help!

Melanie
Durham, NC
miller@ncseaa.edu