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Various Birds That Have Been Known To Target Hummingbirds
By KOURTNEY BORMAN
When you put out feeders for your hummingbirds to enjoy, you could inadvertently be attracting predatory birds who hunt them. Protect them by taking precautions with their feeders.
Small birds of prey, like sharp-shinned hawks, American kestrels, grackles, Mississippi kites, and shrikes, are agile enough to catch creatures as fast and elusive as hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds are also targeted by greater roadrunners in desert areas, like Arizona and New Mexico, and by gulls in coastal areas. Even bigger hummingbirds hurt smaller ones.
You can help protect them by moving their feeders to safer locations, such as near shrubs, plants, and trees, where predators can’t easily see them and they have an escape route.
You can also install predator deterrents, like reflective products or decoy predators, which scare off the real predator birds and give your hummingbirds time to hide or get away.