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From: bob@omni.com (Bob Weissman)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Hummingbirds: Fearless or Nearsighted?
Message-ID: <6094@borabora.omni.com>
Date: 2 Jan 91 23:47:49 GMT
Organization: Interphase West, Mountain View, CA
Lines: 24

A recent cold snap in the San Francisco Bay Area has increased the
hummingbird activity level at my backyard feeder.  With the local
vegetation all frozen to death, the sugar water seems to have turned
into their staple food.

Anyway, I was refilling the feeder yesterday.  It ordinarily hangs
from a bracket on my backyard fence, and has little perches where the
hummers can sit while they suck sugar.  Well, I'm walking out with
the feeder to hang it back up, and this little hummer flies over and
lands on it while it's still in my hand!  Takes a few sips, and flies
off again.

I'm used to these little guys being fearless; they buzz around us all
the time, chasing each other.  But this behavior surprised me, and
suggested the possibility of training the birds.

Has anyone succeeded in training wild hummers to perch on a finger?
Or are they just nearsighted and this one didn't know it was within
arm's reach (literally) of a person?

-- 
Bob Weissman
Internet:	bob@omni.com
UUCP:		...!{apple,decwrl,pyramid,sgi,uunet}!omni!bob