Kathleen, your friend is correct. The males of most hummingbird species have a display flight in the spring that they use to establish a territory and attract mates. The display flight takes place in the heart of the male's territory. That will be the area near the feeder if you have one up. The feeder will also be the locus of some spectacular dogfights between males until one of them establishes dominance over the feeder. After that, the females will begin to come to the feeder, where she will be aggressively courted by the male. In the last act, beginning in late July, migrating hummers begin to show up. Territorial defense is no longer a paying proposition after the young are fledged. Thus, the population around the feeder goes way up. One continues to see some squabbling around feeders, but that is mostly just to obtain a place at the feeder. This is the time of peak activity at feeders and the time most feeder watchers treasure most. Cheers, Bob On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 8:36 AM, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I had the opportunity to watch a make ruby-throat do an amazing flight > yesterday, May 17, in Columbia Twp., Lorain County. The little bird zipped > way up and down and back and forth- sort of in a reversed bell curve. My > friend suggested it was a mating dance, but it was near a feeder. Do you > think this was a show-off for a female or a territorial maneuver? > > Thank you. > > Kathleen Bradley > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at > www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > -- Robert D Powell Congress Farm Research Institute Wilmington, OH, USA [log in to unmask] http://rdp1710.wordpress.com Nulla dies sine aves ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]