BIRDS OF ARIZONA

Some info on Hummingbirds....

Do hummingbirds migrate by riding "piggyback" on other birds?

This persistent bit of folklore - usually citing geese as the carrier - must date from an earlier period, before much at all was known about hummingbird migration. In fact, a helpful reader wrote:

I believe it was John J. Audubon who, if not started, helped to strengthen this myth.

As you may or may not know, he shot and ate many of the birds he painted. He reports shooting a goose and upon retrieval, turning it over and out flew a hummingbird. I'm afraid I don't have the book in hand nor the source, but I do recall reading this either from his journals or another creditable source citing Audubon. Therefore, this "myth" may have been started by the namesake of the major bird society in this country.

There is not a shred of evidence to support this whimsical concept, however colorful the idea may be. [humor alert!] Perhaps, as one wag postulated, a hummingbird was once seen carrying a goose back to the nest in her talons, to feed her hungry chicks.

Hummers are fully capable of traveling astounding distances on their own wings; it is generally accepted by scientists that most Ruby-throats fly non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico in the spring, and probably in both directions.

Some other amusing misconceptions with no basis in fact:

Hummingbirds are a cross between a bird and an insect (from an early Spanish report to Queen Isabella)

Hummingbirds don't have feet (all birds have feet; hummers don't use theirs to walk, though)

~ exerpt from www.hummingbirds.net~