Sunday, April 29, 2012

Cooperating Females


We get a lot of enjoyment from watching the Rufous Hummingbirds at our feeder.  They feed from early morning to late in the evening, and there is lots of competition at the feeder.  A hummer will start to feed, when all of a sudden another hummer dive bombs in and chases the first one away. But, one of the interesting behaviors that we have recently become aware of is that the females will allow another female to feed at the same time, as in this photo.  It’s the males that seem to aggressively defend the feeder to feed one at a time.  My wife says it’s too much male testosterone.  I’m not trying to draw any life lesson here, only an observation.   

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