I have heard them called Hawk Moths but don't think that is the "real" name. I lived in a cabin in the coastal mountains in Southern California some years ago. I saw a couple of those moths in the early evening and also thought they were hummers, at first. I also had a pair of nesting Pacific Slope Flycatchers nesting on a crossbeam on a shed door very near the plants over which the moths were hovering. Suddenly, one of the flycatchers swooped down and attacked the moth. Their sizes were so similar I couldn't believe that tiny bird jumped such a large insect! The flycatcher successfully subdued the moth and, with some difficulty, took it up to the nest to feed the young! It was a pretty amazing sight.

Regards. Joanne

Joanne Powell
Greenacres (Spokane Valley) WA
mailto: jopowell2 at juno.com