Hummingbird Hostility

Hummingbirds fascinate me. From wings that beat seventy times a second, to the iridescent, jewel-toned colors they can turn on or off as needed, God's smallest birds are a marvel to watch. My office window has a large hummingbird feeder hung in the middle, so I can watch them when I should be working. It beats cleaning out my sock drawer.

  The feeder has four “blossoms” – room for four hummingbirds to satisfy their hunger. Around the corner there is a similar feeder, again with four flowers beckoning the thirsty to come and drink. Beyond the feeders there is a natural area filled with flowers that supposedly represent a delicious  buffet heaven for hummingbirds. Nectar abounds.

So why, in this Promised Land I’ve created for them, do the hummingbirds fight over the feeder? There’s plenty of room and syrup for four at a time. But, often when I look up, it’s to see one bird dive-bombing another, at a speed, I’ve read, of up to 60 mph. Why hurtle its awesome body like a torpedo against his fellow bird instead of peacefully going to the next blossom, or the next feeder, or one of the many flowers in the garden?  If he connects, it’s bound to hurt. If he doesn’t pull up in time-ouch! It’s like watching a World War I dogfight, where you know either Snoopy or the Red Baron is going down.

It’s a territorial thing, I’m told. But hummingbirds are very smart- their brain is, proportionately, the largest in the bird kingdom. They remember where each nectar “blossom” is, and how fast it refills once their long, hairy tongues have sucked it dry. Experience tells them the besotted human inside will refill their feeder with fresh, homemade nectar the minute it drops below an easily obtainable level. They won’t even have to strain their lovely throats to suction the last ambrosia-like drop.

Knowing this, they have to be aware several birds can feast at once.

A fast metabolism dictates they spend their time eating, not fighting. Their hearts beat over 1200 times a second, so they need to consume up to eight times their weight, daily. They have to eat at least half their weight daily in sugar. I could handle that requirement!

Yet instead of four of them cozying up to the nectar bar to drink in sweet harmony, they chase each other away. And while one chases another off, a third sneaks in and slurps nectar!

I want to set up a mini-stereo outside and play the hummingbird version of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” I asked the neighborhood bird expert about hanging multiple feeders, like one per window pane. He said it wouldn’t help. The hummingbirds would apply some arbitrary bird-logic to determine which one blossom among all the feeders was the most desirable, then they would all fight over it, ignoring the wealth of nectar going neglected all around them.

I wonder if God watches His humans and wonders the same thing.