Looking for trouble

     It wasn't exactly what I was thinking when I thought up a training feeder, but I suppose you could say it worked for this young one. This young male Ruby-throat was impressed with the flowers and the nectar, but it didn't stop there. It sat awkwardly on the wire, on the miniature shepherd's hook that held the feeder and on the feeder itself. This is always a sure way to identify a juvenile. They will sit on anything and everything. They are simply impressed with life and everything they see. It can often times get them in trouble, but they do learn about life quickly, literally. They poke, taste, and lick everything they see. That is one good reason why bug sprays, grease, or vaseline are NOT a good idea around or on the feeder to keep pests away. They use their tongue to sample everything. Any poisons they lick or ingest can't be undone. It could make them sick or worse. Please remember this when hanging feeders. The adult birds are usually not this curious, but the young will look for trouble just like any young animal or bird. I recently posted a video about hummingbirds, and one young Ruby flew up to an artificial cat to lick it's eye. If it were a real cat, it would have met its demise. You may think it wouldn't happen to a real cat, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that it would. Literally everything they see draws interest, whether it moves or not, whether it's colorful or not, and whether it's dangerous or not. So please be mindful if you are trying to attract hummingbirds. Many dangers we can't control, but there are many we can.
     Juvenile Male Ruby-throated hummingbird. N.E. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. August 2017

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