[EBB Sightings] Hummingbird Tongues

I've also seen the tongues outstretched but in a
rather interesting way. In my Laurel neighborhood we
seem to have a lot of hummingbirds.  About once each
oummer when I'm out watering the plants a hummingbird
will come along and dive in and out of the water
stream flicking its tongue and will even stay in the
stream of water briefly to wash itself.

I keep thinking that I should have my camcorder on the
ready next summer...




--- Tom Condit  wrote:

> Newly fledged young ones, who aren't old enough to
> hawk for insects yet, 
> use this long tongue trick to glean tree branches
> and twigs. It's quite 
> impressive.
> 
> Tom Condit
> 
> At 03:29 PM 12/5/05 -0800, Hilary Powers wrote:
> >Walking up Bellevue from Lake Merritt today, I
> stopped to watch a female 
> >Anna's hummingbird helicoptering around a tree the
> way they do, 
> >occasionally perching to survey the world. Once
> when she stopped, she put 
> >out her tongue two or three times like a snake -
> and it easily extended at 
> >least a bill's length beyond the tip of the bill,
> and maybe more, looking 
> >like a dark orange thread (though that might have
> been the light).
> >
> >Anyone else seen this? Is it something they do
> often? I'd never seen it 
> >before.
> >
> >--
> >- Hilary Powers - hilary at powersedit.com - Oakland
> CA -
> >-   Freelance copyediting and developmental editing
>  -
> >-      The edit you want, when you want it done.   
>  -
> >
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> Tom Condit
> tomcondit at igc.org
> 
> 
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