between checking the nets at the Neawanna Banding
Station (Seaside, Clatsop Co.,OR) watching the display
sequences for a male and female Rufous Hummingbird.
The set of events described here represent a about 15
minutes of activity that (we believe) ended in copulation
out of our sight.
A male displaying almost directly above us was what
first caught out attention. Males display for all sorts of
reasons including human presence, but we very quickly
noticed a female near by, mostly because of her behavior.
She was making jerky hops from one part of a twinberry
bush to another and she was clearly not feeding (not
gleaning insects, not nectaring).
The male returned again and went through another dive
display sequence of 4 or 5 dives. It became clear that
the female behaviors were a deliberate effort to get the
attention of the male.
After the third dive sequence the male closely approached
the female and did a shuttle display (aka whisking display
see below). The shuttling included a characteristic "zweee
zweee zweee zweee" buzz. When the male finished, the
female flew deeper into the bushes.
The female reappeared and began to hop around again.
Soon the male was doing dive sequences again.
Both disappeared into the bushes and we heard a shuttle
display followed by silence. Then the male appeared,
flew past in a slower than average manner, gave his lower
body several shakes as if adjusting himself (if you know
what I mean) and flew off across the wetland.
