RUFOUS REAL ESTATE....

They're baaacccckkk.....Rufous hum hum. Flying over 32,000 kilometres ( that's about 2000 miles), spending spring in California, summer on the Pacific west coast (here on Vancouver island), and Alaska. Until July. Autumn finds them in the rocky Mountains, zooming down to winter in Mexico.

(Smart little thing!)  "I'd like to be like a hummingbird..." -Shailene Woodley

Every year they show up at the feeder on my porch. Every year they steal the nests of the Annas ( green) hummers. And Every year, they joyfully dive bomb humans, birds, cats......fearless. Buzz Buzzz Buzzzz......they sound like bumble bees.

"Furious flutter, hello, hello, hello , love..." - Meghan McCafferty

The adult male has a white breast.....female has orange feather and a dark tail....they buzz like helicopters around my head, charging for the feeder. Daring me, with their long bills.

Rufous feed continuously from May to September,  Pretty AND feisty, for a little bird that only weighs about no more than 4 grams.

“A hummingbird flew up to me and just hovered there staring at me... 

It’s tiny heart was pattering like a machine gun, and I thought, what a thing to have to work that hard every day just to stay alive, to be constantly on the verge of death.

And how satisfying every day must be that it survived.” – Unknown

From dawn to dusk they zoom about the garden, to the feeder , to the trees.... challenging  green Annas hum hums ( as if they were Templar knights doing battle)

"I always loved those little creatures.There's a magical quality to them. I finally put one in song..." - Leonard Cohen

"Your outer beauty doesn't really matter; the only beauty that matters is the beauty of your soul.." -Unknown

Apparently, the male Rufous likes guarding large areas with lots of flowers. He wants ALL of the flowers to himself......he refuses to share! The female gets a bigger piece of the pie....more territory, maybe not as many flowers, but she has REAL ESTATE!

"May my faith always be, at the end of the day, like a hummingbird returning to its favourite flower..." -Sanober Khan

"A flash of harmless lightning. A mist of rainbow dyes. The burnished sunbeams brightening from flower to flower He flies..." -John B. Tabb

Rufous hum hums  have excellent memories. They REMEMBER where feeders are located and beeline for them and will even return to places where feeders have been removed, just to check and see.

These hum hums breed as far north as southeastern Alaska. Their wings beating at  52-62 beats per second, they are determined little things, showing no fear, and can live up to 8 years of age.

"... either you take to believing in miracles or you stand still like the hummingbird. The miracle is that the honey is always there, right under your nose, only you were too busy searching elsewhere to realize it...................

The worst is ...being blind, blind to the fact that everything about life is in the nature of the miraculous..." -Henry Miller

 Photographs 2025

ANNA's and RUFOUS.......

 "My work is the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird.Equal seekers of sweetness....." 
                               -Mary Oliver (1935-) (Pulitzer prize winner)

 We are surrounded this year. Well. Surrounded by a few. But it feels like a lot. Anna's Hummers. Named after the French courtier, Anna Messina, Duchess of Rivoli ( 1802-1887)

 The one I've seen hovering around the sweet peas the most, is a female, I think.

 Females and  young ones are rather dull in colour to the male that has a red throat.

 Spencer seems to sleep through all their hovering.At least here he does.

 ANNA's winter here as well.  This winter, I will make sure to keep a feeder out, through the colder months. This hummingbird can survive most cold spells by going into a sort of sleep, where they lower their body temperature. And they survive.

 They tend to make their nests in December. Or even earlier, stuffing the nest with plants and lichen, spider silk, and feathers.

When it rains, ANNA's shake their bodies 55 times per second, while in flight, to get rid of rain particles, including dirt and pollen.

 I learned that the males sing during courtship.  Squeaky sounds. Like a mouse. He does this during a death defying aerial display in order to charm his intended.

 He rises up to about 40 metres ( 130 feet) then dives at a speed of  385 body lengths per second.

 His shrill squeak at the end of the 51 mph dive is meant to  impress. And it does . These hummingbirds are NOT on the endangered species list.

 "Either you take in miracles, or you stand still like the hummingbird...." -Henry Miller (1891-1980) (American Writer)

The RUFOUS............scrapper, hot headed little bird....

 Beats up on larger hummingbirds. And wins! He is very terrritorial. He is very relentless.

 Summering up here in the Pacific Northwest, in Campbell River,  they head up to Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains in the fall.

 Loves the feeder. Scares off the Anna's hummingbird.  Apparently they will even chase away squirrels.

 He migrates  longer than any other bird in the world. 3900 mile ( from Alaska to Mexico) And that's going one way.

 RUFOUS Hummers show up here, on Vancouver Island,around May.

 In July they start their journey down. Sometimes a little later.

  Rufous remembers where he has seen flowers that he can get nectar from. And where feeders are located.  Even going to a place where a feeder HAD been  placed the year before. And checking it out to see.  Smart little hummer.

 Rufous beats his wings  52-62 wingbeats per second. He is fast and brave.  I think  Anna's hummingbird is relieved when  Rufous leaves in July.

 Rufous spends much of his time on the move. He is on the watch list for  a risk of becoming endangered. 

 "A tiny gemstone, a tiny spark of colour  slipping between your fingers and through the cracks and gone. A heart the size of a fleck of glitter and vibrating like a hummingbird, seeded with a billion things that would never happen now. " -Tana French   (1973- ) (Irish novelist and actress. Won the Edgar Award for best first novelist)