Perhaps it’s a long shot but I can’t help but wonder.
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Three days ago on June 10 I photographed this grumpy looking male Broad-tailed Hummingbird in the Wasatch Mountains. He’s perched on a distinctive vertical stem of a serviceberry bush with out of focus willows in the far background. I’ve found him on this perch on several different days recently.
Over time I’ve become very familiar with this perch and I have to wonder if this particular hummingbird knows it much better than I do.
I photographed this male Broad-tailed Hummingbird on the same serviceberry stem very close to one year ago, on June 4, 2019,
This is the same bird on the same day as he returned to the perch after chasing off another hummingbird.
And here he is on the same perch two weeks later, on June 18 last year.
And this is him on the same serviceberry stem eighteen days later, on July 5, 2019.
In fact I found this male on this same perch at least a dozen times last summer. He could be found there reliably so obviously it was his favorite perch to defend his territory from.
I like to compare changes in natural perches from year to year so three days ago (on the same day the first photo above was taken) I took this shot, sans hummingbird, to show as much of the perch as I could get in the frame. I’m looking down on the vertical twig so I didn’t have enough depth of field to get the bottom of it sharp but it’s sharp enough for my purposes.
I’m not sure why but I keep wondering if it could be the same bird both years. A little research suggests that it’s possible. Cornell’s Birds of the World says that the same Broad-tailed Hummingbird “may hold a territory all summer, even for several successive years” and that one male held the same territory for three years running.
Just because it’s known to happen doesn’t mean it’s happening here but I like to think it is.
That way I can consider him an old but grumpy friend. I have a few of those, most without feathers.
Ron
Addendum: My friend Neil Rossmiller just made this comment on this post on Facebook: “Sometimes I wake up Grumpy, sometimes I just let her sleep.”
Made me smile so I thought I’d share.
Grumpy slept in this morning! 😈
It’s always nice to see an old friend in a familiar place. ❤️
🙂
The perch adds another meaning to the “service” part of the plant’s name
Is the branch alive? The buds from 2019 look viable. Not so much this year.
Lyle, I’ve never known what’s going on with that twig. It’s alive but it never grows any true leaves and it never changes much.
It seems totally reasonable to me. We have favourite vantage spots too.
Grumpy is awake here. I have left Dopey (or possibly Dozy is kinder) to sleep.
🙂
A bander I know says you can usually get three numbers off a band. However, the birds usually sit like this making it hard to see if they have a band.
Ann, not many of our birds out west have been banded.
I think it’s a reasonable assumption. Many hummingbirds live 10-12 years so you might find him there in the future. Several years ago in a nearby local county park, we had a male Rufous Hummingbird on the same perch for more than 8 years. I can’t ever prove it was the same bird but for those years a male Rufous was always displaying from that perch so reliably that it could always be shown to my class each summer. No bird has used that exact spot again since it disappeared.
If I had to bet my money would be on it being the same bird too, Dan. Which I think is pretty neat.
Having attended a humming bird count several different years I have heard they see the same tags years in a row. I love these feisty little defenders. They are already patrolling my backyard all day. I love to watch the and have seen several documentaries about how amazing they really are.
“Little defenders” is an accurately descriptive phrase for them.
Yep, the same. Your photos are so much sharper than mine.
Thanks, April. I’d actually planned this post before I saw your photos.
I’m curious. What shutter speed are you typically getting on this bird? And are you using a tc with that lens which I believe on your camera would mean you’re shooting at f/8?
Since the bird was cooperative I used a few different settings to see what I liked in the end. Most of the shots I posted were: ISO 500, 560 mm, F8, 1/2000 with EV almost -1. Yes the TC was on.
Center one spot focus.
I’ll email you.
It’s been our experience hosting two different species of hummers that they certainly do choose “their” perches! But years ago, when I visited the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab in Gunnison County, CO, near I think the town was Mt Crested Butte, researchers there had data indicating certain a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird returned to the same small swale each of twelve years to nest. She had been banded as a young bird, as I recall, then recaptured every year twelve years running. So, “site fidelity” was definitely part of their repertoire.
Wow, 12 years! That’s impressive, Barbara.
Yes! It sure surprised me as well. I should try to find that research to send you! I went to that little meadow and swale, too. Gorgeous country!
Hey! I found a report about the hummer research at RMBL!
Here’s a link!
https://www.rmbl.org/article/directors-letter-march-2019/
That was an interesting article, Barbara. Fun to read too. For example I loved this line; “Resembling the hummingbirds he studied, Bill was thin and wiry, had a prominent nose, and moved quickly.”
Yes! One can “see” him with that line!
Beautiful photos Ron. Colors really stand out. Just curious, from what distance did you take most of these? I notice with our backyard hummers that you can easily predict where they will perch. They definitely have their favorites that they use more frequently than anywhere else.
Thanks, Everett. I’d estimate that I’m about 20′ from the perch, maybe slightly more.
Cool photos and “ya never know”…… May be same bird or the perch is just TOO good not to be used by whoever the ruler of the year is…… 😉 Beautiful photo’s of a beautiful bird! “Grumpy” – I do that! 🙂
Thanks, Judy. I’ve been doing that grumpy thing more than usual lately.
So interesting! And lovely photos, of course!
Thanks, Joanne.
Grumpy, uh ha, Oh, but for the “Grace of God” go I!! VBG!!
Beautiful shots, I’m with you, I think it is the same one! I use to be a bird bander from 1960-2000, and know without a doubt that male birds who have been successful defending a territory in one spring/summer, have come back to the same spot the following year. I have data to prove it.
That’s very good to know. Thank you, Dick.