I have the same here every year. I just always assumed it was one letting the other know that is was it's necter not the others. Russell Lima, Ohio ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dorothy Dawson-sheldon" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 11:43 AM Subject: [Ohio-birds] hummingbird behavior > Greetings > > We have 6 hummingbird feeders at our house here in Wakeman, Lorain > County, which are attracting a significant amount of Ruby Throated > Hummingbirds. The last couple of days we've noticed a female would > attack another female that was feeding. It seemed like it was sitting/ > hovering on the back of the other and pushing / or rather not > allowing the other to raise it's head from the opening without being > pecked in the head . Both had their tails flared as we've seen when > others are dominating a particular feeder. It only appears to be two > hummers out of about a dozen that are behaving in this manner and > only on the platform type feeder. (It has openings in the top > similar to the oriole feeder). > > We've pretty much ruled out that they are two different species. > Perhaps they're just behaving like siblings? The six feeders are > spread out: 4 in the back yard along the deck railing with > geranium baskets scattered in between and 2 in the front among > broom corn plants. The aggressive behavior is happening in the back > only. > > Any input on what is actually happening would be deeply appreciated. > Cheers > Dorothy & Doug > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at > www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]