hummingbirds
gregladen | July 15, 2017Giant insects can eat tiny dinosaurs.
In this case, the giant insects are praying mantis, and the dinosaurs are hummingbirds and other small birds. In some cases, maybe most cases, this involves small birds like hummingbirds being taken at nectar sites (natural or otherwise) by introduced species of praying mantis in the US.
Here's the info from the recently published paper:
Bird Predation By Praying Mantises: A Global Perspective, by Martin Nyffeler, Michael R. Maxwell, and J. V. Remsen, Jr.
ABSTRACT
We review 147 incidents of the capture of small birds by mantids (order Mantodea, family…
milhayser | January 14, 2015On Life Lines, Dr. Dolittle examines the fascinating parallels between hummingbird and insect flight. He and/or she writes: "The researchers placed nontoxic paint on the wing of a ruby-throated hummingbird at 9 different spots then videotaped the animal flying at 1,000 frames per second with 4 cameras simultaneously." Despite being far removed from insects on the phylogenetic tree, hummingbirds "stir up air around their wings in a way similar to insects like mosquitoes and dragonflies." This is an example of convergent evolution, as natural selection engineers similar solutions for very…
grrlscientist | March 7, 2010tags: Praying Mantis, Preying Mantis, mantid, insects, birds, hummingbirds, offbeat, predation, predatory behavior, nature, streaming video
Sandy Lizotte, the Ventura Hummingbird Lady, captures a rare and remarkable moment where a praying mantis was waiting patiently at a hummingbird feeder to ambush a hummingbird. As you'll see in this video, the mantid succeeds.
The hummingbird did survive.
grrlscientist | December 9, 2008tags: hummingbirds of venezuela, birds, documentary, streaming video
This is a very nicely done video documenting some of the lovely hummingbirds of Venezuela -- can you name the species? [2:53]
grrlscientist | April 9, 2006
Female hummingbird, asleep.
Photo by Dylan Maldonado.
A flash of scarlet and emerald zooms past me as I poke my sleepy head out of the kitchen door, a vibrant splash of summer color against the sullen winter sky. Suddenly, an indignant Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, confronts me, beak-to-nose, demanding his breakfast. Shivering, I retreat quickly into the kitchen to prepare warm sugar water for my feathery guest.
Hummingbirds are classified into the avian family, Trochilidae, which is from the Greek word, trochilos, or "small bird." In fact, the smallest avian species alive today is the…