Hummingbirds are known for their beautiful, iridescent plumage and their ability to hover in midair as they drink nectar from flowers. However, these tiny birds also have a fierce side when it comes to defending food sources, especially feeders filled with sugar water.
Territorial Behavior
One of the main reasons hummingbirds fight over sugar water feeders is because of their highly territorial nature. Hummingbirds are not social creatures – they do not live or migrate in flocks like many other birds. Each individual hummingbird will aggressively defend its territory and food resources from other hummers.
During the summer breeding season, male hummingbirds will vigorously defend their mating territories. They will fight off any intruding males through high-speed chases and physical attacks with their beaks and feet. But even outside of breeding season, both male and female hummingbirds will protect sugar water feeders that they regularly visit from other hummingbirds.
They remember prime feeding locations and essentially “claim” feeders as their own. If another hummingbird approaches, the territorial bird will make threatening displays like vocal chirping, wing-waving, and beak-fencing to scare off the intruder. If the other bird does not retreat, an aerial battle often ensues until the more dominant bird takes over the feeder.
Competition for Limited Resources
Another reason for aggressive behavior around feeders is competition for limited resources. In the wild, flowering plants provide the nectar that hummingbirds depend on. However, many backyard bird enthusiasts also supplement with sugar water feeders, especially during less fertile seasons.
Because hummingbirds have such high metabolisms, they must consume a lot of food daily to survive – up to twice their body weight in nectar each day! They cannot afford to share limited food sources. When a feeder is discovered, the hummingbirds will fight to gain sole access to it.
In lean times or in areas where feeders are sporadic, the fierce competition leads to intense battles as the small birds try to stake their claim over a valuable food bonanza. The higher the stakes, the more aggressive they become.
Breeding Behavior
As mentioned above, mating season brings out an extra level of aggression in male hummingbirds. In addition to defending nesting territory, the males also fight over areas where female hummingbirds are present.
The males will perform dramatic courtship displays to attract the attention of females. They will fight challengers to maintain proximity to their potential mates. Having a sugar water feeder nearby allows the males to refuel during their exhausting mating rituals. This added benefit raises the stakes, and they will battle fiercely to control prime feeding real estate.
Aggressive Personalities
Some individual hummingbirds are simply more aggressive by nature, similar to human personalities. If an especially dominant, pugnacious bird stakes claim over a feeder, it may repeatedly attack all newcomers regardless of resources or mating issues.
Some particularly feisty males become known for their bad attitude and daring assaults against any hapless hummer or other intruding bird that happens by. Researchers have identified individual hummingbirds displaying higher levels of aggression across multiple seasons and circumstances.
These bullies of the bird world will dive bomb, body-slam, and aggressively chase away other hummingbirds from their self-declared territory around a well-stocked sugar water feeder placed nearby.
How Hummingbirds Fight
Hummingbird battles involve impressive aerial acrobatics and lightning-fast maneuvers. Here are some of the ways the tiny birds attack each other:
- High-speed chases – Hummers will pursue an intruder at blazing speeds through twisting flight paths.
- Beak dueling – Males will cross beaks and fence back and forth while hovering in midair.
- Chest poking – They will try to stab each other in the chest with their sharp beaks.
- Body slamming – The birds will fly directly at each other and collide forcefully in midair.
- Claw grasping – They will grapple and claw at each other with their small feet.
- Chasing on foot – The birds will continue fighting even after landing, running after each other on foot.
- Plumage pulling – Hummers will grasp tail or neck feathers in their beaks and yank feathers off each other.
These attacks happen rapidly while the birds are in flight. The fights usually last only a few seconds, but the hummingbirds make up for their tiny size with their ferocity. Both males and females will defend territories aggressively.
Injuries and Consequences
Most hummingbird skirmishes end with one bird fleeing the scene once the other bird asserts dominance. However, injuries can result from the fights. Impacts at high velocities can dislocate joints or break bones. Eye injuries like corneal scratches occasionally occur. If an infected scratch goes untreated, it can lead to blindness.
The birds can lose patches of feathers during the vicious tussles. This is especially detrimental during cold months if they cannot sufficiently warm themselves at night. Significant loss of feathers can be life-threatening.
Expending energy in frequent fights also detrimentally affects the birds’ health. The extra activity burns calories they need to stay fueled. And exposure to high levels of stress hormones due to chronic fighting weakens their immune systems.
In extreme cases, defeated birds may be driven from the area completely by an excessively aggressive bird. If they cannot find another reliable food source nearby, they can starve or die from exhaustion.
Females are especially vulnerable during the time they are incubating eggs and briefly when feeding newly hatched chicks. If a female is forced to abandon her eggs or offspring, the babies will not survive.
Preventing Fights at Feeders
Fortunately, there are steps hummingbird enthusiasts can take to minimize feeder aggression and reduce fighting:
- Provide multiple feeders spaced adequately apart – This allows more birds to feed simultaneously.
- Use feeder styles with more feeding ports – More ports means less competition at any single port.
- Offer separate high and low perches – Dominant birds often claim higher perches.
- Site feeders out of sight from each other – Block sight lines between feeders to define distinct territories.
- Employ feeders that block sitting spots – Remove flat perching edges aggressors guard.
- Clean feeders regularly – Fresh nectar minimizes bacterial growth that can sicken birds.
- Use feeders with perch bars – Vertical perch bars make beak fencing more difficult.
- Supplement feeders with natural flowers – Provides more feeding opportunities.
- Use nectar guard tips – Prevents bees from robbing nectar, leaving more for hummers.
With some planning and effort, backyard birders can provide a safe, relaxing feeding experience that caters to these tiny flying dynamos.
Conclusion
Hummingbirds may seem delicate, but they are fiercely competitive around food sources. Due to their territorial behavior, need to consume large quantities of nectar daily, breeding priorities, and occasionally aggressive personalities, they will defend sugar water feeders from intruders. Battles feature blazing speed combat maneuvers like beak fencing, body slamming, and claw grappling. Though injuries rarely result in death, they can impact the birds’ health and reproductive success. Providing ample feeding spaces, distinct territories, and cleaning routines can reduce fighting and make a safe environment for hummingbirds to flourish.
