On 7/18/2014 9:10 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2014-07-18 8:56 AM, jmcquown wrote:
>
>>> A few years ago I was at a friend's house and there was a humingbird
>>> bird perched on a wire strung across the rafters in his garage. We sat
>>> there and watched it for about 15 minutes. We knew we would never get
>>> another chance to see something like that again.
>>>
>> Hummingbirds have to eat all day in order to survive the night. When
>> night falls they go to roost. They fall into a state of torpor. You
>> cannot wake them up. Their bodies practically shut down to conserve
>> energy. Their temperature drops. It's like suspended animation. As
>> the sun comes up they warm up. They gradually come out of the torpor.
>> Then they're off again for another day of eating. They are very
>> interesting little birds. Cute as can be to watch, too. :-D
>>
>
> That was the odd thing. It was the middle of the afternoon. It was
> awake. It looked around. It was a warm day, the garage door was wide
> open. I had never before seen a hummingbird perched like that. I had
> only seen them buzzing abut or hovering by the flowers. It was such a
> rare event that we just sat there and watching it. It is more typical to
> be outside and to catch a glimpse of one for a moment.

A perched hummingbird at my feeder:

http://s1342.photobucket.com/user/ji...6e3d5.jpg.html


It was a cute male ruby-throat. They *do* sit down from time to time.

Jill