Hummingbird Update - Part One

I had a couple of posts a few months ago about the hummingbirds we have seen at the feeder we put out at the front of the cabana near the hibiscus where they feed (here and here).  

A hummingbird approaches the "ocean view" feeder just off the front veranda

We put up another feeder on the back deck in a more sheltered spot that just happens to be right outside our bedroom window.  :-)  Once the ruby-throated hummers started coming, it took about 2 weeks for the cinnamon hummingbirds, that feed on the hibiscus flowers year 'round, to realize that the feeder was also a good source of food.  Then the floodgates opened and we got 2 more species as regulars at the feeders - the green-breasted mango and the rufous-tailed hummingbirds.  Today's post is the first in a series and it highlights our old friends, the ruby-throated hummers.

You can see the post-ocular white spot that is characteristic of the ruby throats. Notice the drying laundry in the background.  :-)

As you can see, it is also adjacent to our clothes line, which makes for a handy perch at times.

They fan their tails out for aerial maneuvers and displays.

This female ruby-throated hummer is showing its characteristic outer three white-tipped tail feathers.

Nice profile view.

There are at least two other species of hummingbirds in Belize with similar looking females, but the ruby-throated is the only one with a totally black bill.  The others have black upper and red lower.  Whewwww - that saves me a tough session of keying out the other species.  Just in case you are wondering, the other 2 are the female white-bellied emerald (larger and with dingier greyish-white tips) and the female Canivet's emerald (smaller and with a post-occular white streak instead of spot).

Sometimes they take a quick sip without perching.

We have seen at least 2 immature males (photos in a previous post) and numerous females, but no adult males with their stunning ruby throats.  Not sure why that is.  The adult males have a slightly different migration schedule than the females and the immatures, so maybe they just haven't found our feeders listed on the hummingbird equivalent of Trip Advisor yet.  Surely we must have a good rating for abundant, fresh nectar, choice of ocean view or sheltered seating, and the featured local cuisine of hibiscus and flamboyant tree flowers!

And sometimes they sit and stay for a while.

We get lots of return business, too.

They always keep on alert for predators and competition at the feeders.  These birds may be small, but they are feisty.

Stay tuned for the next installment featuring the lovely cinnamon hummingbird.

Yellow #2 (for Vivian)

Sometime back I posted "Yellow #1".  Here, I am finally following up with Yellow #2.  I saw this lovely Orange-barred Sulfur when we were staying at DuPloy's with our friends Chris and Sue in Oct, 2010.  They never alite with spread wings (the butterflies, not Chris and Sue.  But they probably don't either, come to think of it.), but I caught this one in flight showing off its bright colors. DuPloy's has a wonderful Botanic Garden and the grounds around the lodge are landscaped in native plants; an amazing variety of birds and other wildlife can be seen to their advantage in the natural setting.

Phoebis philea, orange-barred sulfer

Another photo from the past shows a ruby-throated hummingbird catching some nectar at the yellow flowers of Delonix regia, the flamboyant tree.  Most often you see this tree or shrub with red flowers, but in that case it wouldn't in the "Yellow #2" blog posting.  These wonderful small trees need lots of sun, but not much else.  We have several on our property and I am sure we will plant more once our major construction projects are complete.

 

In the photo below is even more yellow flamboyant, along some of the other colors we have.  And the yellow banana and the yellowing (ripening) papayas.

All of these grew at our place.  Papayas are transient trees, actually they are not even true trees.  Anyhow - they live for maybe a couple of years and then fall over, get blown over, or some such.  Our trees are usually what ever volunteers in the compost heap.

While on the subject of yellow food, here is a beauty that is rarely sold commercially around here due to its delicate flesh - a cashew "fruit".  Well, it is not exactly a fruit, but it is a sweet, juicy, fleshy thing, so fruit works for me.  In some areas it is called a cashew apple.  Like the 3 pictures above, this was taken in Oct. 2010.  Must have been a good month/year for yellow ...

The little kidney-shaped thing at the end of the fruits is actually the cashew nut.  I may be the only person in the world who doesn't like cashew nuts, but I do like the fruits. 

Coconut flowers are yellow.  You don't really think of coconuts as having flowers, do you?  They are easy to overlook, not because they are small (the individual flowers are small, but whole flowering structure is huge), but because they are tucked into the bases of the fronds and are often so high overhead that you just don't see them. This one was on a young palm that kindly presented its flower at my eye level.  There is often a lot of insect activity around the flowers.

Male and female flowers are on the same big structure.  The little blobs are tiny young coconuts.

I must have been hungry while I selected these photos - the next one is of a produce market in Placencia. Lots of good yellows there.

Starting in the yellow basket on the left edge of the photo are yellow bananas, below them are yellow onions.  In the middle column of baskets we have yellow star fruit (carambola) and some yellow corn on the cob.  Then the right hand column has yellow plantians hanging, yellow oranges, yellow limes, and yellow grapefruit.  "So where are the lemons" you ask?  I ask that a lot, too.  We rarely get lemons here.  Odd.

Gotta work on that lemon thing.