Mine, Mine, Mine!

Many of us have experienced the hummingbird feeding frenzy at a feeder. There always seems to be one hummer that spends most of its time chasing the other hummers away. At Madera Canyon, you have a hundred hummers wanting to feed, so there are many hummers trying to claim the feeders as theirs. The bedlam can be dizzying! This makes for great flying hummer photography opportunities. And if you look carefully, you’ll see those individuals who take a different tack to the whole process. This immature Black-chinned is one of those individuals. I have no doubt it’s just my imagination, but at times, it seemed to try to bullying with body gestures, and at other times, misdirect chasers to pursue an individual so it could eat unharrassed. I watched it do this multiple times from different perches. The one time it selected a perch where I had a clear shot, I had already seen its antics, so I was ready for them. The whole time I watched it, in my mind it was saying to every hummer, mine, mine, mine!