Here is a forwarded message. This goes to show how bold some dragonflies can be.
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Dennis Paulson: I thought this was interesting enough to warrant further distribution. There is at least one published record of an Anax junius capturing a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Hofslund, P. B. 1977. Dragonfly attacks and kills a ruby-throated hummingbird. Loon 49: 238.
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Dennis Paulson: I thought this was interesting enough to warrant further distribution. There is at least one published record of an Anax junius capturing a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Hofslund, P. B. 1977. Dragonfly attacks and kills a ruby-throated hummingbird. Loon 49: 238.
Begin forwarded message:
Date: September 28, 2009 1:52:26 PM PDT
Subject: [TexOdes] Fw: [texbirds] FW: Dragonfly takes down a hummingbird
----- Original Message -----
From: "Collins, Fred (Commissioner Pct. 3)" <Fred_Collins@ HCTX.NET>
To: <texbirds@LISTS. TEXBIRDS. ORG>
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 3:33 PM
Subject: [texbirds] FW: Dragonfly takes down a hummingbird
This past Friday, September 25, 2009 I took a bus load of birders to the Smith Point Hawk watch. It was an overcast day with low clouds and very little or no breeze. The sky was full of Green Darners. There were also 10-20 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at two feeders on the Hawk Watch Tower perhaps 20 feet above the ground. There were about 20 people on the deck watching birds. There was a flock of about 20 Mississippi Kites soaring above and near the tower feeding on dragonflies a 100-200 feet above. About mid-day the hummingbird tumbled across the deck within 6 feet of several of us on the deck. I assumed it was two hummingbirds engaged as a male had been
trying all morning to defend the feeder from a dozen or more hummers. To all our surprise, the hummingbird was engaged by a Green Darner Dragonfly. The dragonfly had the hummer by the back of the head or upper neck and it
appeared the hummer would soon lose its life. Unfortunately one of the people stepped in to save the hummer and before he could touch it , the combatants broke off the fight and both were gone in a flash.
I have heard stories like this but never actually believed them. What's more, one of the alert people got a good series of photos of the tussle. My question to this list is , has this ever been documented ? I think the
photos and report are noteworthy. If you are aware of any published reports in the literature about this sort of attack I would appreciate you passing it along to me.
Cross posted to TX-Ento
Fred Collins
Director: Kleb Woods Nature Center
Cypress Top Historical Park
.
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Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
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