Hummingbird and Finch Feeder Behaviors

Some gypsies have settled in my yard and the squire doesn't seem to care. If you had read the two stories that appeared in the Union News last week, you would have learned a lot about the gypsy goldfinches and the squire hummingbird. However, you would not know why these nicknames are appropriate.

August is a busy month at the nectar feeders. In early summer the male ruby-throated hummingbird comes only occasionally, and any females come hardly at all. The local male is the lord of the manor, and I call him the squire. No wandering males trespass on his property without a challenge. The females he welcomes, but not at the feeder itself. He sends them back to their duties at the nest, which he never even visits.

When full summer comes, squire hummingbird has his hands full, chasing away one intruder after another from the feeders. At first he gives them the full display, performing an aerial act designed to intimidate. When the intruder perches nearby, the squire rises to a height above them, then descends quickly and up again in a swinging arc, buzzing loudly with his wings. This usually does the trick and he is left in peace and possession.

Later this fails to work and there is a steady parade of adult females, young, and other adult males that make a foray at the feeders. Usually he sits on a dead twig in a nearby tree and waits, dashing out when a mere peasant approaches the feeder. Most of the time the visitor gives way, fleeing before the squire's assertion of his rights.

Sometimes the newcomer has pretensions of its own and there is a stand off. Then the fact there are five feeders spread on all sides of the house leads to an uneasy sharing. Now there are several different individuals sipping nectar from all the feeders. There seems to be a constant chasing and buzzing in the yard as the squire and his unwanted guests sort things out from dawn to dusk.

How different it is for the finches. Forty or more birds are all taking their turns peaceably at the niger and sunflower seed feeders. The finch is the gypsy of the songbird world because it never seems to settle down in one place and always travels in groups. We have three finches in New England in spring and summer, the purple finch, the house finch, and the goldfinch.

The purple finch is very uncommon in the valley, living mostly in the evergreen forests of the higher hills. The house finch breeds abundantly in the suburbs, often in wreaths and in flower pots on porches, and has now brought its young to the feeders.

The goldfinch is just starting to breed now. The female builds the nest in the tall weeds and bushes of open areas. Most of the 20-30 goldfinches at the feeders at any one time are male. The bright, yellow and black male almost never incubates. The females wear the drab, greenish colored coat that hides them so well as they go to, and sit on, their nest.

He seems the epitome of the carefree gypsy; eating, drinking, and making merry with his pals. These little birds move about the yard in chaotic abandon seemingly all day long. They visit one feeder after another, singing their soft musical notes. Occasionally one bursts into full song, a long series of louder notes, filled with exuberance if not melody. Each bird sits and munches on seeds until displaced by another impatient for its spot.

Are they part of many nesting pairs that reside for miles around in the surrounding countryside? Do they all fly off to their distant mates to feed them some of this easy meal? If they have graced your yard, enjoy them while you can, for in a month or two they may have all moved their gay wagons to another manor.

It would be hard to choose between the gypsy and the squire, as different as they are. The goldfinch is generous and merry because seeds are plentiful in the wild or at the feeders. The squire is intense and combative because nectar is always hard to find and extract. Either will pay handsomely for your handout with an entertaining show.