[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: aggressive hummer and grackle



MELANIE . . .

Great observations! :-)

Common Grackles are definitely predatory birds. They have powerful 
bills, plus feet that are so big and heavily clawed that they look 
almost like those of raptors. (Having banded many of them, I can tell 
you that adult males, especially, bite really hard and their feet can 
sometimes puncture human skin!) They will eat almost anything they 
can grab, including frogs, salamanders, crayfish, large insects, 
and--as you observed--small birds, including eggs and young. (The 
good news is that they seem to particularly like House Sparrows!) 
When really hungry, they also can run down mice on the ground and 
bats in the air, but in winter often settle for to a diet of acorns, 
corn, and wild fruits. They are amazing birds, but don't leave your 
parakeet out if there's a flock of grackles in the neighborhood.

Hummingbirds are pretty individualistic, and they frequently don't 
tolerate even their own species. A female typically establishes a 
nesting territory from which she drives away all other hummingbirds 
(including her mate). After the young have fledged, females also will 
aggressively defend a feeder. It may be that your female was an 
unsuccessful breeder and simply started her defense early; likewise, 
if she had a nest with chicks or eggs and she spent all her time 
defending the feeder, she probably became an unsuccessful breeder by 
default. BTW, I once saw a hummingbird chasing a Red-tailed Hawk, so 
a chickadee is small fry by comparison!


Best wishes,

BILL

**********

>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

-- 
**********

BILL HILTON JR., "The Piedmont Naturalist"
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
1432 DeVinney Road
York, South Carolina 29745
USA

e-mail: <hilton@hiltonpond.org>

Voice: (803) 684-5852

eFax: (503) 218-0845

Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a 501(c)(3) 
non-profit research and education organization, so all in-kind or 
monetary gifts to Operation RubyThroat and the Center are 
tax-deductible. Please visit our websites:

Hilton Pond:  <http://www.hiltonpond.org>

Operation RubyThroat:  <http://www.rubythroat.org>


"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to 
watch the sunset."

						BHjr.

**********