Date: 6/25/25 6:47 pm From: DAVID A LEATHERMAN <daleatherman...> Subject: Re: [cobirds] Hummer help - Arapahoe
Jared
Female broad-tailed hummingbirds are ferocious in defense of a nest. I have seen them go after fox squirrels many times and even watched one female run off a fledged Great Horned Owl oblivious enough to land in her nest spruce.
Dave Leatherman
Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef> ________________________________
From: <cobirds...> <cobirds...> on behalf of Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...>
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2025 6:40:51 PM
To: Colorado Birds <cobirds...>
Subject: [cobirds] Hummer help - Arapahoe
This afternoon, I watched a hummingbird that I think is a Broad-tailed dive at Lesser Goldfinches. In flight, the hummingbird flashed its tail, which included noticeable orange coloring. The hummingbird was definitely not an adult male. It lacked the gorget and didn't make the trilling call during its dives. It's throat seemed spotted. The light's a little tough for clean views with my binoculars, whose lenses aren't clean enough for a clean view of a tiny bird in tough light. I lost the bird during a trip inside to nab my camera.
So if I have the identification to species correct: is this a first-year male? Have they already left nests (I suspect not, at least around here)? Or do the females also dive at other birds? (I'm not seeing a reference to females Broad-tailed Hummingbirds diving in Birds of the World.)
I'll work on getting a better view...or better yet, a photo.
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to <cobirds...>
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/ ---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+<unsubscribe...>
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/<PH7PR12MB7354CC7DF753B427111E762BC17AA...>
