Male Hummingbirds Respond to Tail Noise Triggers

January 30, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

I have played with wild birds all my life. I have bred or trained or hosted many wild and domestic birds all my life. My godmother was one of the oldest bird banding scientists on earth, 100 years ago, she wrote one of the first scientific studies of the California Condors. She taught me a lot about birds as did my parents. I have figured out, many years ago, how to make male birds 'show their stuff' simply by imitating the sound of their feathers moving. The BBC reports that hummingbird males use their tail feathers in this way. No surprise to me.

Hummingbird 'uses tail to chirp'

A species of hummingbird makes a chirping noise with its tail feathers, not its throat, a study using high-speed video has suggested.
The exact source of the noise from male Anna's hummingbirds has been the subject of debate among researchers.

By using specialised footage, a team of US scientists were able to show that male hummingbirds' tail feathers vibrated during high-speed dives.

We have a hummingbird feeder here on the mountain as well as many hummingbird-friendly flowers which I put out on the deck in summer. It is fun, sitting on the deck, watching the hummingbirds. Like chickadees, they are brave little feathery denizens of the skies. They show no fear of human nor animal. Both chickadees and hummingbirds use their swift flight and small size for advantage. When the feeder runs out in the winter, the chickadees all let us know by loudly yelling at us when they spot us. They will perch within inches of us as we fill their feeder.

The hummingbirds let us know when they arrive in springtime. Around end of May, they come. If their feeder isn't out, they will hang around the deck until I come out for some reason and buzz close to my face. I then say, 'Oh my, time to feed the humming birds!' They then watch for me to come out a few minutes later with their red feeder. Then they patrol the feeder. The dominant males who tend to be the same ones that were dominant the year before or their offspring, will stay in the vicinity of my trumpet vines and sweet-water feeder. If strange hummingbirds come, they attack.

It is all rather amusing. Tiny birds will buzz their wings and tail feathers to make them as loud as possible. Instead of a soft bzzzzz sound, suddenly the male is making loud buzz saw noises and various clicks of the long bills and other noises. They have this ritual dance where the two disputing males will fly to and fro, facing each other, clacking their beaks and making a nasty racket with their wings. It is all very amusing if you step between them by accident. They will flick their wings right under your nose to get you to back off.

So this story amuses me. Dive bombing in order to make even more noise is well within the repertoire of the hummingbird.

"Many kinds of birds are reported to create aerodynamic sounds with their wings or tail, and this model may explain a wide diversity of non-vocal sounds produced by birds," they concluded.

This is certainly true not to mention, obvious. I used to amuse myself playing games with peacocks. Most people want to see the spectacular displays of the males but don't know how to get them to display their lovely feathers. It is quite simple, actually.

I have done this in Europe and America. I even wondered if I should turn this into a scam to make money like a magician with birds. When I squat on the ground next to a peacock male, I make this 'flllllffffttttt' sound as if I were spreading my own tail while fanning my fingers of both hands in front of the peacock. Instantly, it goes into full display. The trigger is the sound and the sight of my fingers are sufficient to make the 'show your sexual powers' part of the brain to go into action.

Trilling the tongue while making a 'boomph boomph boomph' noise will get turkey males to display including wild turkeys. Showing them a small piece of red cloth completes the deception. We once had a wild turkey attack our Sirocco VW in the woods because it had a red stripe. He came up to it, furious. I made the male turkey feather sounds and it went crazy. We certainly go a laugh out of that.

On the other hand, we had red lawn mower I had to repaint. Our bronze turkeys as well as the wild ones, when hearing it, saw the red paint and the noise was too close to the sound of their chests thrumming and their tails spreading. They would attack my son. He complained, it was hard to mow when huge turkeys were gobbling and snapping at his ankles. Or worse, flying down the mountain and crashing into the mower, knocking everyone down.

Thank goodness hummingbirds don't weigh 45 lbs.

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Comments

[D.F. Facti]

I love Mr. Chickadee's cousin, the tufted titmose. Bohemian waxwings here - - - I should write about it.

[blues]

I have raised about a dozen wild birds. Of course, the hard part is teaching them to survive beyond "domestication." They are all different.

I found out that boattailed grackels are "songbirds" only to those who've never been bitten by one. They are hawks disguised as startlings!

The crows and jays are the hardest. They seem to want to be people.

[ArthurCorgi]

I wish she'd get off the damned computer so I could answer email and write my column.

I suppose Fluff is a bird watcher, too.

[blues]

Hey Arthur. Heidi is my thirteen year old coonhound. She forces me to walk her about ten miles a day, but my doctor says that will keep me alive longer than any vitamin. Probably so. She certainly does not look threatening, but I assure you she is totally a shark on four legs. She can catch any bird, squirrel, you name it. She loves every human, which is sometimes worrisome to me. But if I don't keep her on a short leash, she will come back with a pheasant for sure every time. She once caught a rabbit in a bush on a seven foot leash. At least she always kills them instantly. What can I do?

[ArthurCorgi]

Dear Blues,
Chocolate is always a good idea. You cannot go wrong with M&M's or a full-sized Snickers.

Have you thought about starting a fan club and newsletter? That worked well for me and the boss. Sign up all the humans - get the money up front and do not promise too much.

The worst things I ever did were eating catnip mice and rolling a little kid on Halloween.

Maybe when Dr. Phil is through not helping Britney Spears, he could not help you.

[blues]

Damn! You've nailed it, Corgi!!! I gotta call the DR. Phil franchise RIGHT NOW. Just think; I get paid to get exposed as the scrumhole I may be, plus I get all that great advice. I need to start yet another website devoted to exposing Dr. Phil and his scrumhole for what it all truly is.

This could be my big break on the internet. Exposing the DR. Phil / Scientology conspiracy! I'm on a roll for this one, baby!!!

[Elaine Supkis]

Alas, cats specialize in psychiatry and hypnosis but none of this works on DOGS.

Signed,
Fluff

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