Hand Feeding Hummingbirds.

1. dead_red_eyes
   November 6th, 2006 at 8:36 pm

   How cute !!!

   I was working at this mountain resort years ago in the middle of Colorado, and a Hummingbird had hit a window in my bar. It was around the afternoon and I was cleaning up when I heard a big, THUMP. I rushed outside and it was on the ground next to the window. I picked it up, and about that time it had a seizure and died in my hands ... probably one of the saddest things I've ever experienced in my life. Watching the life drain out of a tiny creature, in the palm of my hand. Still makes me sad just thinking about it.

2. Carl Smith
   November 6th, 2006 at 10:20 pm

   These photos are wonderful! Thank you for posting them (tho how could you not?). Let me tell you this:
   Some years ago, in Wyoming, I put out feeders for the Rufus Hummers that summer there. I would sit on the deck within feet of the feeders and marvel at the audacity and confidence or these slick little birds. They seemed to ignore me if I didn't move quickly. Such a fine example of ability and confidence.
   One day I noticed a small, drab hummer approaching a plastic blossom near my favored seat. He seemed a glutton; unlike the usual behavior, he entered the blossom and fed for several seconds without backing out to scan for predators. He drank long and deeply. Unable to resist, I reached up and gently touched him on the back between his wings. No reaction. I waited a moment and tried again, stroking his back very lightly. He finally backed up, exposing his eyes, and looked around. I froze instantly. Thinking there was no danger, he again went to the well and drank deeply. I touched him again. This was repeated three times. At last, so amused that I could not help it, I broke into laughter upon his last withdrawal. Seeing my movement and hearing the sounds I made, he left in a great rush.
   I realized that he was a fledgling, just off the nest and not wise to the ways of the world. In a flash he was gone, wiser, I hope, due to my harmless affections. I still chuckle at the thought of teaching a life lesson to a teaspoon full of bird.

3. megmeg
   November 7th, 2006 at 12:23 am

   I wanna do that!!

   The closest story I have to that is when I go to France and we go by Notre Dame, you can do that with the little sparrows and other small birds. They'll flock around you and land on your hands and arms if you have a little bit of bread with you. Not as amazing as hummingbirds though!!

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