Re: Cardinal vs Hummingbird --- and the hummingbird wins

[Agki Strodon <agkistrodon@mindspring.com>]

Reminds me of mobbing of predators by prey species.  Question then becomes, are
the cardinals "looked upon" by the hummers as predators and "mobbed" in the same
way for the same reasons?  I dunno but it seems that the wonders of evolution
could be leading this way for cardinal subgroups.  It happened before when the
Laniid lineage was established from what was apparently a non-predatory oscine
groups.  There's no reason why it is not happening again in cardinals and other
oscine groups that are reaching out to new modes of behavior to enhance their
survival chances.

Jim Sutton


paulshewmaker@charter.net wrote:

> I've been catching up on old e-mail (I've only been able to spend time on
> the bird mail about once every two weeks) and finally I just have to pitch
> in my two cents.  All the stories about cardinals and hummers have the
> cardinals as victors.  Last summer I saw almost the opposite.
>
> A commotion right at the feeders caused me to look out.  I saw a male
> Ruby-throated Hummingbird hot on the tailfeathers of a male cardinal.  I
> didn't see what led to the fight but maybe it started with a cardinal
> attack.  However, the tables were now turned and the hummer chased his prey
> right up into a tree.  The cardinal landed and was immediately hit by the
> hummer.  The cardinal fled again.  The hummer was relentless and chased the
> cardinal all over the yard.  Finally, the poor fellow landed on the side of
> a thick clump of leaves and literally buried his head in the clump.  The
> hummer hit him a couple of times, hovered momentarily over the shaking
> victim, and then left.  So, almost the opposite of the cardinals killing the
> hummers, except in this case instead of killing the cardinal, the hummer
> just made him wish he were dead.
>
> Paul Shewmaker
> Simpsonville, SC
> paulshewmaker@charter.net