Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Hummingbird? Well, we were pretty sure it was a baby ruby-throated hummingbird that we saw in our garden last night. That is until we started talking to some other people today. Seems they, too, saw what appeared to be a baby hummingbird, but it was a bit weird. Like it was an overgrown insect. I didn't have my glasses on, but when I got closer, it did look pretty much like a hummingbird. It's wings fluttered so fast you couldn't see them, it hummed like a hummer, flitted from flower to flower, feeding on the nectar. And you know what they say, if it sounds like it, looks like it, acts like it...it must be one! Curiosity got the best of me though and I looked it up and one blogger (who is a birdwatcher) mentioned it in a blog last year, that most people are confused about it. It turns out it is a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth! Well, looking at still pictures, you can tell it's not really a bird. Totally fascinating! Picture above is from Wikipedia, but there were a lot more out there that show this interesting little critter!

6 comments:

~Bren~ said...

That is the weirdest thing. I thought hummingbird too until you really look and it is some kind of bird/bug mutant. Once you hear it is a moth, you can totally see that

Silverthimble said...

Isn't he cute! At first glace, it does look like a humming bird!

Susan said...

I remember that discussion last year, but if you hadn't said the name, I'd never have remembered that! The head was wrong, but I couldn't really figure out exactly how.

Gail said...

How cool is that??! I would never have figured it out, would have thought it was some sort of deformed h'bird.

Melanie said...

Outstanding Photo----Love the beak.

chq said...

What a beautiful photo!