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hummer rivalry



I must say that I also found local tales of the tolerant Ruby-throats quite
alien to my experience.  Big feeders, small feeders, multiple feeders, time of
day, time of year, it just doesn't make any difference in my yard.  They will
not allow another hummer to approach.  I live in the mountains, but there are
quite a few hummingbird feeders in the neighborhood, so it isn't a typical
mountain setting.  Even out in the wild, though, the hummers are constantly
chasing each other.  There are a lot of wildflowers in the mountains and it may
be that hummers are attracted to these patches in big numbers in the fall when
they are passing through.  Maybe they are more tolerant in these situations
when there are large expanses of unbroken forest with open patches of
wildflowers here and there.  Maybe this is a stretch.  So I don't know why they
would be more companionable in places like Grandfather Mountain.
I would be interested in knowing under what circumstances they become
tolerant of others.  I assume this occurs pretty exclusively in the late summer
and early fall.
Marilyn Westphal/Hendersonville, NC  
email:  mjwestphal@unca.edu