Saturday, April 27, 2019

X is for Xantus A to Z Challenge



 I was taking a break at a local coffee shop. They use an old children's flash card set to bring your order to the table. I got an X!!!  If this wasn't serendipity...good S word by the way.

Xantus is a type of hummingbird. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
gives you a full lesson on this species. Found in the Baja, CA area only. 


Isn't he the cutest?

Hubby & I happen to love hummingbirds. We have a feeder on our deck & by the end of the summer our resident population gets used to us. They buzz our heads from time to time.  
Ruby-Throated variety is what we get here in Northern Michigan.  Hubby checks the migration map to see when they will show  up here in Spring so we can have the food ready. 


We get so familiar with them that we know what branches they like to perch on, so we spend lots of time observing them as they come & go from the feeder. Lots of fighting ensues. 
They aren't very tolerant of each other.

Below are pictures I was able to take of the Antillean Crested Humming Bird 
we made friends with on the Island of Nevis a few years back on our winter escape from snow. 




He perched & fed on these wonderful red flowered bushes right off our little deck 
& didn't seem to be bothered by our presence.


This is the sweet little place we rented. The bush in the center of the picture 
with the red flowers is where our little friend hung out.

Two more letters to go in the challenge. Phew!



6 comments:

  1. I would never have thought humming birds were quarrelsome. And getting that x for an I'd was perfect.
    www.findingeliza.com

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  2. I read recently those beaks were for fighting, not for sipping nectar!
    Nice photos of the hummers.
    And, and learned a bit of geography today! I'd never heard of Nevis. Adorable cottage.

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  3. I love hummingbirds...believe it or not, I never saw one until my mid-40s when I was in California at a party at my boss's house. When we lived in Ecuador, we were amazed at how large they were. They even came up to our 7th floor apartment to our feeder. Now here in TN, we have a lot of the Ruby-throated variety and have one male who dominates. He arrived this week...time to get my feeders out.

    DB McNicol, author
    A to Z Microfiction: Xylophone

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    Replies
    1. They are just being spotted near us as of the last couple days. Our feeder is out there ready for them. When we traveled in Costa Rica we saw some amazing hummers. Large purple ones in particular. Your time in Ecuador must have been amazing. You made up for lost time.

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  4. I didn't realize hummingbirds were so vicious to each other until I watched The Wings of Life a few years ago. Excellent documentary, by the way. Breath-taking cinematography.

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