September 13 2019. Dark Harbour, Grand Manan, New Brunswick. The setting for today’s Birds of the Day really has no bearing on the bird, you can see them almost anywhere on the eastern half of this continent. Dark Harbour is a harbour but little more than a sheltering cleft in the basalt west wall of Grand Manan Island. It offers an enclosed safe haven for small boats, room for a few modest dwellings at the toe of the cliff face, and a winding road leading through thick spruce forest back to the gentler, more inhabited side of the island. It is said that Dark Harbour has laws of its own and the Mounties prefer to let well enough alone. Rather an odd place to visit, picturesque and comfortable enough in decent weather, and people always smile when you mention its name. Worth a visit if you like places with an air of unease.
My Birds of the Day were Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, they were probably there for a refuelling stop before making the 20-mile jump across to the coast of Maine. At least four of them had found a couple of sugar-syrup loaded feeders hanging in front of one of those modest homes. With the permission of the spouse of the home-owner (or similar authority), I settled into a corner to watch and photograph the hummers. The feeders only offered enough space for two birds at once to draw nectar and several squealing squabbles erupted over who had priority. Whether they were real squabbles, or greetings and familial interaction I couldn’t be sure. Sometimes two of them, hovering face to face, inches from each other, exchanged whispered threats, opinions or compliments while climbing in an arial dance before peeling off the top in opposite directions.
In one of my photos you can see the bird’s tongue still extended as it pulls away from the feeder. A hummingbird’s tongue is built like a stack of open-on-one-side ice-cream cones: as it extends into a source of nectar the cones separate to absorb the liquid between segments. When the bird withdraws, the cones pull back onto each other carrying the enfolded nectar. This food-gathering system is tucked into a tiny head that also carries the navigational knowledge to guide the bird from Canada to Costa Rica and back several times (fuelled by sips of sugar water or nectar).
In contrast to the minute and ingenious hummingbird, Dark Harbour is a favoured home for equally sophisticated (but perhaps more brutish) Common Ravens and American Crows. I watched a murder of crows gathered around the topmost spire of a Red Spruce, ten or twelve of them socializing noisily. They could be Birds of the Day any day because really, who can say that any bird is more or less brutish than any other? The tiny squeaky whispers of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, charming though they may sound to us, may well convey a blood-curdling message; and well, a murder of crows?
I’ve been noticing a lot more hummingbirds out here on the west coast.
Not sure if there are more hummingbirds or just more noticing.
I still can’t figure out what kind of humming birds they are but I’m pretty sure they are not crows or ravens. Little wee guys, right?
I’m going to forward your post to a friend who is a hummingbird fanatic.
I’m really enjoying these posts, thanks!
Likely candidates in Vancouver are Anna’s Hummingbird (most often the one seen in garden areas of the west coast) or Rufous Hummingbird. Also possible (but unusual) are Costa’s and Calliope Hummingbirds. The Rufous shows some rufous colour on its belly and or flanks, it should be fairly conspicuous.
The problem with i.d of hummers at this time of year is the colour of the young is often a bit washed out. The ones whose photos I included in the post are likely sub-adults (hatched this year) or females. None has the crimson throat of an adult male.