Hummingbird Imposters (Mystery Solved)

Self | 9-20-2002 | blam

[blam]

"I think it's because they don't recognize him as a person- he's tall (6'7), skinny, and has bright blond hair and a very red beard."

He must be a descendent of all the German immigrants that settled in that area around New Braufels(sp).

[MamaTexan]

He must be a descendent of all the German immigrants that settled in that area around New Braufels(sp).

Exactly!
His mother's maiden name was Cervinka, but he says he's not bohemian, he's a 'bohunk'....
Which I guess is a good-looking bohemian. :)

[blam]

" but he says he's not bohemian, he's a 'bohunk'....

Well, Im a bohunk too but, I'm a WASP.

[potlatch]

God's creatures are here to amuse us among other reasons.

Well, it is pretty amusing seeing a large woodpecker hanging on a hummingbird feeder! LOL.

[JLO]

potlatch, I incorectly responded to you a couple days ago. I wasn't visualizing a red headed woodpecker when I answered. Sorry - in my mind's eye I was seeing post #79 from blam (which he posted a photo of).

Now, wouldn't THAT really be a hoot - to see a piliated on a hummingbird feeder - they'd just have to roost on top of it, LOL!

Sorry for the confusing post I made...JLO

[Aracelis]

We have several (at least I think there are several) hummingbird moths that regularly visit my petunias on the back porch. I've only seen a few actual hummingbirds visit my feeder, so the moths are very welcome.

[potlatch]

Well, I have to admit it wasn't confusing to me because I don't know the difference between the Piliated, and the kind we have in our yard!

When I saw that picture, I thought that our woodpecker doesn't have that 'crest', but figured it just might be a female!?

[JLO]

Well potlach, I thought maybe you were kidding me about it!

Check this link out: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/woodpecker/index.html

It shows the different woodpeckers in the northland.

These birds are HUGE - at least a foot tall. I'm pretty sure they don't go very south from from here. They are VERY interesting birds, though, from what I've observed. JLO

[potlatch]

That is a good link, and the 'two' redheads' right near the top! The small one is what we see in South Texas. It WOULD be scary to see one of the Pileated ones in your backyard - they are HUGE!!

We use to have Roadrunners come through the yard, but haven't seen one in years. Hope they aren't dying out like our Horned-toads!!

[blam]

"These birds are HUGE - at least a foot tall. I'm pretty sure they don't go very south from here."

Don't go far south? We have Pilated woodpeckers here in Mobile too. Our state bird is the Yellow Hammer Woodpecker.

[grannie9]

I took this in my garden this summer, and they are here all summer long. At first I thought they were a type of Hummingbird too..but looked them up also. I live in NH so they are a little different looking up here I guess.

This our variety.

[justsomedude]

rods no one has caught one yet but many claim to have captured them on high speed videos. they are reptile-like creatures with fins that swim through the atmosphere in excess of 100 mph. the high speed creates the same fluid dynamics as a fish in water. they are all over. you just can't see 'em. (photo courtesy of roswellrods.com)

Might just be hooey, I dunno.

[blam]

Those are neat. I don't see the long 'straws' like the ones here.

[grannie9]

Just reading the whole thread.. These Sphinx Moths are out all day here, and I've seen them at the flowers near my door at night, when I've put the light on. So they are about, day and night.. I love to catch them with the camera, and chase them all around the yard for a photo..

[JLO]

"I've had feeders out the last several years here in central Texas, but since the
cooler weather started yesterday, they are moving on."

Thanks for the southern US update, MamaTexan! Guess they're on their journey even further south. My partner also calls himself a bohunk. He has gorgeous silver hair and a multi-colored beard, which he shaves daily, so it doesn't show. But the hummers still are are attracted to him, too, LOL! What's with these guys, ya think? He says they they almost go into his ear canals............Ha!

JLO




JLO

[grannie9]

The wings are very fast, and they do have the long straws.. I guess they are buried in the flowers at this point. Oh, that is only one Moth.. I just put two pics together for interest.. I have pics of other ones from other summers, but they are all the same variety here. I have never seen a green one..

[JLO]

Wow, blam, I've never heard that before. All my bird books say they stick around here up north. But, then again, all my bird books are for the local northern states. Pileated woodpeckers (in the books, that I have, anyway) don't travel south.)

Hey, maybe this is big news for the real, true bird afficiadios, eh? JLO

[blam]

This is part of a report from a canoe trip in Jasper, Texas. (I couldn't find anything from around here)

"I found a small creek and followed it a ways. Earlier I'd seen several blue herons, American egrets, anhinga and turkey vultures. Paddling up the creek I watched dozens of tiny song birds flitting about. A red headed pilated woodpecker (one of those guys with the Woody Woodpecker top knot) was pecking away at a log projecting up out of the water.

[JLO]

nah, potlach, they aren't scary in the least! They are the most 'skittsh' bird I've ever seen! An overhead shadow (fron another bird, or just a cloud, even) - and they take off quicker than a flash.

[js1138]

There must be something in the air about hummingbirds. Wy wife subscribes to a leatherbound version of the Peterson Guides, and we recently got a guidebooke devoted entirely to hummingbirds.

After seeing half a dozen of the critters we looked them up and discovered the same thing you did. Big disappointment.

As far as I could tell without reading the entire book, the only hummingbird found in the southeast is the ruby-throated. The southwest and Mexico have lots.