(Please see picture gallery below – if you have any pix please send to sheilaelliot@yahoo.com)

December Bird of the Month

Anyone who has the native plant called firebush (Hamelia patens) or other bright tubular flowers in their back yard is a candidate for a visit from this tiny winter resident of Palm Beach County, Ruby-throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris sipping nectar from our backyard flowers. For years people have heard about hummingbirds hitching rides on larger birds during migration; no evidence that I’m aware of substantiates these rumors, but I have seen plenty of hummingbirds descending on larger birds in a territorial fury; not many of those larger birds ever bothered to fight back. They know they have no chance to defeat this tiny, most maneuverable of birds. That might explain the rumors of “piggyback” migration.

Come to our December meeting to hear more about this fascinating winter Palm Beach resident bird from our expert, Clive Pinnock.

(Photographer’s please note that next month’s January 2014 Bird will be the Common Gallinule (Common Moorhen))