Hummingbird vs. Hummingbird Moth

Balaji Devarajan, 2022

This doesn’t happen everyday! So here I am sharing my firsthand witness of this rare interaction between a Hummingbird and the Hummingbird Moth (White-lined Sphinx Moth). I was birding at the Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve with my camera to take pictures of the Dickcissel. While I got one shot of the Dickcissel, the photo highlights from that day were the Copperhead snake, Gulf Fritillary butterfly, and the Hummingbird Moth. This small post narrates the few minutes faceoff between a Hummingbird and a Hummingbird Moth.

The Hummingbird Moth was drinking nectar from the upper half side of the thistle, and the Hummingbird would approach the same flower. The Moth immediately went up to the Hummer and they both were buzzing mid-air above the flower for a few seconds. It looked like some serious negotiations on the rights to the thistle! Hummer won the faceoff, and it approached the flower. The Moth then went to the south bottom part and had to share the flower with the Hummingbird. After a few seconds, the Moth moved on to another thistle, and the Bird had the flower all for itself. I was just 1-2 ft away from the action, and the Hummer almost ran into me as it flew to find the next sweet flower! How cool and lucky to see this rare interaction? The couple pics here would bring life to this narrative.

As a bonus, I had another interesting story from the same morning. I almost stepped on a Eastern Copperhead snake as I was focused on a bird at eyesight level assuming it is all clear to walk on the paved trail. Thanks to the walker from the opposite direction who screamed at me! Glad the snake and I didn’t make it difficult for each other that day!

Hope you enjoyed reading this!