Arrival of the Rufous in Ruidoso
The feisty fighter meets his match in the Caliope
July is the time of the summer when the Rufous and the Caliope hummingbirds arrive in the Ruidoso area on their way back to the tropics after going as far north as Alaska.
Both are territorial and a combative, but photographer David Tremblay noticed them sharing a feeder one day last week. They seemed to agreed with a bit of chirping that each would stay on their side of the feeder.
The Rufous is one of the feistiest hummingbirds in North America, Tremblay said. The brilliant orange male are relentless attackers at flowers and feeders, going after even the larger hummingbirds of the Southwest, which can be double their weight.
Rufous are wide-ranging and breed farther north than any other hummingbird. They can be spotted in the spring in California, summer in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and fall in the Rocky Mountains as they complete their annual circuit of the West. They primarily feed on nectar from colorful, tubular flowers including columbine, scarlet gilia, penstemon, Indian paintbrush, mints, lilies, fireweeds, larkspurs, currants, and heaths. They ontain protein and fat from eating insects such a gnats, midges and flies taken from the air, and aphids taken from plants.
The global breeding population is estimated at 11 million.
Some people can't imagine a tiny bird that weighs no more than a few paperclips flying 2,000 miles or more across mountains and urban landscapes and along broad waterways all the way to Alaska. But in June 2010, in Chenega Bay, Alaska, a Rufous was captured that had been banded five months earlier in Tallahassee, Fla. The recapture marked the longest recorded migration of a hummingbird, more than 3,500 miles.
Nearly matching the Rufous in aggression and tenacity is the Caliope, which is extremely territorial at all times of the year, attacking any visiting hummingbirds, including much larger species.
The Caliope is small even for a hummingbirds and his hunched posture doesn't help him look larger. It has a short tail and short wings that barely extend past the end of the tail. He is considered the smallest bird in North American at 3 inches to 3.5 inches long.
Tremblay said the closeups were captured at 560 mm from about 10 feet away from the all male subjects.