David Wright says:

>There is a large, reddish-flowered shrub just north of the
>barns at Nisqually that seems to be crawling with Rufous
>Hummingbirds this time of year. We keyed it out this past
>weekend and IDed it as a Reddish Currant
>(Ribes sanguineus). In Bent's account of Rufous hummer he
>cites someone from western Washington to the effect that
>these hummers seem to time their arrival to coincide with
>flowering of this native currant, and that male hummers
>often base their territories around it.

>Do any Seattle/suburban tweeters have a Reddish Currant in
>their yard, and if so, do Rufous hummers flock to it?

We have several wild red-flowering currants scattered about our lot.
When the hummers return in late Feb./early March, the males seem to
stake out territories centered on the currant bushes. The best way to
find a hummer in the yard is to approach one of these bushes - the
birds quickly make their presence known by buzzing our heads. As the
territorial birds won't tolerate the presence of other males at their
bush, we don't get flocks - more of a one bird/one bush situation. I
wonder whether the currant at Nisqually is part of a territory, or is
just used by transient birds?


Eric Kraig
Olympia
kraig at wln.com