Bob, such an interesting quite from 1703! The author states that hummingbirds suck up nectar by their fluttering, but the bird in the video is very still and not fluttering. How exactly do they gather nectar from flowers? Is there a tongue motion?
Susanne, in addition to their needle-nose bills, they use their tongues to extract the nectar. It's incredible because upon observing the cardinal plant, it has some very very narrow blossoms! I can only think the fluttering theory was a product of secondhand information or very brief observations. One can imagine how challenging it was to observe hummingbirds without binoculars or a camera.
Thanks Bob, this makes more sense. It seems the tongue action would be the most effective in getting the bird to swallow the nectar, and the beak would be used as a probe, perhaps to open the throat of the flower for access. Of course, I'm speculating here!
I don’t have bird feeders of any kind but I wanted to attract hummingbirds to our deck where we can easily watch them. I bought one cardinal flower plant and potted it. As soon as it bloomed we had ruby-throated hummingbirds stopping by. Early this year I divided the plant into three pots and we had 3x the fun watching hummingbirds compete for the opportunity to suck the nectar. Next year I will start dividing and planting them in the yard.
Bob, thank you for this little treasure! Hummingbirds are brilliant, spectacular little creations! Always a favorite bird of my family. My mother, who is gone now, was crazy about seeing the hummingbirds arriving for the summer in Montana. She had 20 plus feeders for them! I am in Texas and have a few feeders, but not the numbers of hummingbirds that she would get visiting her every year. Reading that excerpt from 1703 was a delight! Thank you for this post! Brought warm memories and a smile. Blessings ~Wendy 💜
Bob, such an interesting quite from 1703! The author states that hummingbirds suck up nectar by their fluttering, but the bird in the video is very still and not fluttering. How exactly do they gather nectar from flowers? Is there a tongue motion?
Susanne, in addition to their needle-nose bills, they use their tongues to extract the nectar. It's incredible because upon observing the cardinal plant, it has some very very narrow blossoms! I can only think the fluttering theory was a product of secondhand information or very brief observations. One can imagine how challenging it was to observe hummingbirds without binoculars or a camera.
Thanks Bob, this makes more sense. It seems the tongue action would be the most effective in getting the bird to swallow the nectar, and the beak would be used as a probe, perhaps to open the throat of the flower for access. Of course, I'm speculating here!
I don’t have bird feeders of any kind but I wanted to attract hummingbirds to our deck where we can easily watch them. I bought one cardinal flower plant and potted it. As soon as it bloomed we had ruby-throated hummingbirds stopping by. Early this year I divided the plant into three pots and we had 3x the fun watching hummingbirds compete for the opportunity to suck the nectar. Next year I will start dividing and planting them in the yard.
The beautiful thing is that they love cardinal plant so much that one doesn’t even need a feeder.
Bob, thank you for this little treasure! Hummingbirds are brilliant, spectacular little creations! Always a favorite bird of my family. My mother, who is gone now, was crazy about seeing the hummingbirds arriving for the summer in Montana. She had 20 plus feeders for them! I am in Texas and have a few feeders, but not the numbers of hummingbirds that she would get visiting her every year. Reading that excerpt from 1703 was a delight! Thank you for this post! Brought warm memories and a smile. Blessings ~Wendy 💜