Sunday, February 17, 2008

Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds in Nova Scotia

Here is a video clip done by a friend of mine. It is from a DVD project available on a website called Hummingbird Valley. It features a bird called the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.


They are magical creatures. We start seeing them in mid-May and they leave for the South in September or October. On the male, the head and back are a jewel-like green. The amazing feature is a patch of iridescent feathers on its throat. This patch can seem to be the darkest black from one angle and then flash to a brilliant red from another. They are tiny, about the size of your thumb. They breed here in Nova Scotia.

There are over 300 species of Hummingbirds known but the Ruby-Throated is the only one normally found here. Most live in the tropics. Here is an interesting thing. The Hummingbird is found nowhere but the Americas or as Robie Tufts puts it, "the New World".

video

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

lovely!

February 17, 2008 8:34 PM  
Blogger Dick Small said...

I've lived in Upstate New York (about 30 miles from the Canadian border), and I don't think I've ever seen any hummingbirds.
Once again, I lose....

February 17, 2008 9:02 PM  
Blogger Steve Dobson said...

Around here people cultivate them Dick, with special feeders and plantings in the garden. Their range is from Alberta to Nova Scotia and down along the Southern States as far as Florida. They are comfortable in urban areas as well as the wilderness, so as long as there are flowers and nectar you will have a pretty good chance to see one.
Cheers,
Steve

February 17, 2008 9:41 PM  
Blogger Dick Small said...

Well, that makes me feel aLOT better (you know, not being the only loser in my neighborhood...)

February 17, 2008 10:13 PM  

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