Patricia:

I spend much of the year in the Rockies and am very familiar with the Rufous
Hummingbird.  In NW Colorado, the Broad-Tailed Hummer is the abundant
breeder (green; whistling wings on the male), but beginning in late July, we
begin to see Rufous, which are smaller, orange (many of them), and
w-a-a-a-a-y more aggressive.  They chase the BT hummers away from the
feeders.  We refer to the them as "hummers with attitude."  So, the tale of
the local migrant Rufous standing up to a big bad Cooper's Hawk is not
surprising.

Gary Nelson

-----Original Message-----
From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Patricia Valdata
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2010 7:29 PM
To: 
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Pugnacious Rufous in College Park

I had to go down to Greenbelt today, so I detoured briefly to College Park
to see Rick Borchelt's Rufous Hummingbird. I was afraid it was going to be a
no-show when a Cooper's Hawk landed in a tree at the edge of the yard and
sat there, making a Goldfinch freeze on its feeder, but after a few moments
the hummer zoomed into position a few feet in front of the hawk, hovering in
front of it as if to say "This yard ain't big enough for the both of us." I
wish I'd had a camera with me! The hummer then sat on a branch of its own,
still facing the hawk, and after a couple of minutes more flew down to the
feeder, presumably satisfied that she'd made her point. She certainly made
my day!

 

Thank you, Rick, for opening your lovely and very birdy backyard to
out-of-towners. 

 

Pat Valdata

Elkton, MD