Hummingbirds in Livermore embrace `happy hour' at feeders

DEAR JOAN >> We have three hummingbird feeders set up in the front yard. Currently, we have at least seven “regulars” and have had as many as 20 or more during migration seasons. We set up our evening repast with a view out the window so that we get “dinner and a show.”

Throughout the day, the hummingbirds are extremely territorial. One may perch on a local bush and try to drive others off from the feeder. While that chase happens, other hummers opportunistically chow down at the feeder until someone else claims dominance. Alliances form and dissolve in seconds as hummers — males in particular — attempt to control the easy food. And so it goes throughout the day into sunset and dusk.

Starting at dusk and proceeding through the twilight hours, territorial aspirations seem to die down: hummingbirds stop chasing each other and focus on eating. It is at this point that we will see four and five hummers on a feeder. Once we saw six on a feeder with five stations. I've come to view this as “hummingbird happy hour.”

Has anyone else observed this behavior? What drives these remarkably territorial, hostile, possessive animals to breakout in “Kumbaya” and belly up to the bar for the night?

— Sydney Dent, Livermore

DEAR SYDNEY >> Hummingbirds, like many creatures, retreat to their sleeping places when the daylight fades away. They fill up on nectar and insects, and then go to bed to watch reruns of “Murder, She Wrote” on tiny televisions. Oh wait, that's me.

Hummers go into a deep sleep, called torpor, conserving their energy until the new day begins. Because their bodies are getting ready to slow down, their aggression about feeding stations might also decrease.

Hummers also are busy hunting insects attracted to evening lights, so some of the bigger feeder bullies might be so occupied.

DEAR JOAN >> We have a large back deck and an overturned folding table that serves as a birdbath. The birdbath lies next to a railing that fronts a large tea rose bush. The bush drops rose petals in the water. We watch a considerable variety of birds in the bath in the mornings at breakfast.

One morning, I watched a large robin gather a number of rose petals to make a wad in her beak. She dipped the rose petals in the water several times until the wad was soaked, then flew away with it. About 2 minutes later she was back, dipped the rose petal wad a few more times and flew away again.

I watched her do this four times and went out to see where she was going. She was using the soaked wad of rose petals to carry water to her nestlings. Clearly she could carry considerably more water that way than just in her beak.

That's a new meaning for “birdbrain.” This speaks of reasoned thought, problem solving and tool use.

DEAR DONALD >> Many birds bring water to their offspring in the same way. The rose petals are a nice touch. Birds are more clever than we give them credit for, and it doesn't stop there. I once watched a scrub-jay soaring over my street, repeatedly dropping a walnut, picking it up and dropping it again, until it cracked open. Who needs thumbs?