Hummingbird attacks Patti

[Patti from Kentucky]

OK...maybe I wasn't actually attacked, just subjected to some severe intimidation.  I was pulling a pokeweed from under the hummingbird feeder.  I stood up, weed in hand, just as Ms. Hummingbird came to feed, and she objected to my presence.  She got about six inches from my face and buzzed back and forth with her tail fanned, as if to say "I'm big, I'm bad, and you're in my space!"  Once she got bored with that she landed on the feeder and drank her fill, while I attempted to stand completely still.  Perhaps she was only curious about this strange creature in a place where there is normally no creature...but knowing the general temperament of hummingbirds made me think it was an attempt to intimidate me.  It was an overpoweringly awesome experience to be that close and feel the wind from her wings hit my face. 

[jeanne]

Patti,

I just a second ago read this article!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30812137

[valhalla]

Wow Patti!  We had 3 great Hummingbird experiences this weekend.     When leaving to go food shopping Sat AM, a male hummer buzzed in, so I simply froze by my truck.  He drank from every plant and then buzzed me on the way to the backyard and the crape myrtle.  Sunday morning, while sitting in my new chair, a hummer came to the back yard and drank from my tomato plants!     Then on Sunday, after a fortune in feeders, we think we found the "right" one (made by Droll Yankee - flat, plastic, colorful, multi-hole), put it up and spent the late afternoon and evening watching this little hummer land on the feeder to drink.  Then he'd buzz off and visit some flowers and head on back.  Very cool!    (love the EyeCat)!

[annieinelkhart]

I have so many humming birds around here this year.  I have 4 feeders around the house and yard and they are eating like crazy!  They drink at LEAST 3 cups of food A DAY!!  I LOVE watching them and can get them really close while I am at the kitchen  window or on the deck. They sure do buzz all over the place!  Miss them when they fly south.  Hubby and I are going to Florida for 6-7  weeks in Oct. and I plan to take a couple feeders along on our trip. 

[mrs3popeye]

 Patti, this is so cool...to have a hummer that close!!!   

OK...maybe I wasn't actually attacked, just subjected to some severe intimidation.  I was pulling a pokeweed from under the hummingbird feeder.  I stood up, weed in hand, just as Ms. Hummingbird came to feed, and she objected to my presence.  She got about six inches from my face and buzzed back and forth with her tail fanned, as if to say "I'm big, I'm bad, and you're in my space!"  Once she got bored with that she landed on the feeder and drank her fill, while I attempted to stand completely still.  Perhaps she was only curious about this strange creature in a place where there is normally no creature...but knowing the general temperament of hummingbirds made me think it was an attempt to intimidate me.  It was an overpoweringly awesome experience to be that close and feel the wind from her wings hit my face. 

[susan c]

see Patti, if I were in your position I'd think that the hummingbird was curious, not aggressive.  But seeing as how you know much more about hummingbirds than I do, I'll try to adjust my reactions or I may end up like this:     lol!

[Gawoman]

About 4 years ago, I was sitting on my porch studying (I didn't have a hummingbird feeder at the time, and had never knowingly seen one.)  As I'm studying, I hear this weird sound and looked up, and about 3 feet in front of my face, looking at me, was a hummer!  It then flew away quickly, but it was quite an experience!   

[valhalla]

About 4 years ago, I was sitting on my porch studying (I didn't have a hummingbird feeder at the time, and had never knowingly seen one.)  As I'm studying, I hear this weird sound and looked up, and about 3 feet in front of my face, looking at me, was a hummer!  It then flew away quickly, but it was quite an experience!   

Very cool! 

[Bird Crazy]

I like it when sometimes they will come and eat while I am till holding my feeder after washing and refilling it. So Cool. 

[Shaky]

About 4 years ago, I was sitting on my porch studying (I didn't have a hummingbird feeder at the time, and had never knowingly seen one.)  As I'm studying, I hear this weird sound and looked up, and about 3 feet in front of my face, looking at me, was a hummer!  It then flew away quickly, but it was quite an experience!   

A belated congrats on your first post!

[dale]

she may have been peeved at you, Patti, or she may have been checking you out. I've had the experience (in the Indiana Dunes) of a hummer hovering right in my face, then vaporizing. Who ever knows. Except one time, at the Desert Museum near Tucson, a hummingbird kept coming back to harvest more and more fluff off of my hoodie for her nest; that time the intention was clear. I was a crop.