This page last updated: June 25, 2005

"Stuck on You..."

Ralph Morris, a resident in the mountains of Hendersonville, North Carolina, found these two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds dead in his driveway on May 16, 2005. Susan Cambell, hummingbird bander from Whispering Pines, NC, sent me the photo.

I would guess (tongue-in-cheek) amorous Mr. Hummingbird failed to adjust his altimeter to the elevation of Hendersonville, and as a result, pulled out of his courtship dive juuuuuust a little late.

(Kinda reminds me of the F-16 [USAF Thunderbirds] I saw do that during an airshow at Mtn Home AFB, Idaho, in 2003. The pilot reportedly failed to account for the higher elevation at Mtn Home AFB, and as a result, ran out of airspeed, elevation, and ideas during a solo looping maneuver, which further resulted in the fiery mating a 16 million dollar aircraft with the desert sagebrush in front of us. Thanks to an ejection seat, the results were less permanent than shown in the hummer photo below!)

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