Hummingbirds Living in a Hive Found for the First Time
Hummingbirds are tiny and delicate, but don't be fooled: They are among the most aggressive birds in the avian kingdom. Their territorial fury is especially aimed at other hummingbirds. Competition over a patch of flowers or a mate often results in high-speed aerial chases, divebombing and beak jousting.
So when Gustavo Cañas-Valle, an ornithologist and birding guide, stumbled across a cave full of hummingbirds nesting and roosting together in Ecuador's High Andes, he could hardly believe it.
'I thought, 'This looks like a colony,'' Mr. Cañas-Valle said. He added, 'They were like bees.'
He documented 23 adult birds and four chicks,all of the subspecies Oreotrochilus chimborazo chimborazo, commonly known as the Chimborazo hillstar.
Mr. Cañas-Valle's discovery, described in the journal Ornithology in November, may be the first documented example of hummingbirds that nested and roosted communally. It is also notable that he found the birds engaging in both these behaviors in the same space — something that even highly social species from other bird families tend not to do.
Juan Luis Bouzat, an evolutionary geneticist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and another author of the study who is also Mr. Cañas-Valle's former graduate adviser, said the finding raised fascinating questions about the role environmental factors can play in driving group living and in promoting the evolution of certain social traits.
Dr. Bouzat and Mr. Cañas-Valle at first hypothesized that harsh environmental conditions along the Chimborazo volcano where they found the nests had forced the birds together. The birds live more than 12,000 feet above sea level on a sparsely vegetated slope where it is hard to come by nectar-providing flowers, water or shelter from freezing temperatures and biting winds.
'Either you aggregate or perish,' Dr. Bouzat said.
But this may not be the full story. Mr. Cañas-Valle explored the region and found six other examples of hummingbirds nesting and roosting together. He and Dr. Bouzat also surveyed concrete drainage pipes scattered around the area. The pipes had similar environmental conditions to the cave but could fit only one or two nests. The researchers found that just 45 percent of the pipes were occupied by nesting females — significantly lower than the frequency expected by chance, according to computer simulations the authors conducted.
There were significantly more nests found in groups, on the other hand, than there would have been if randomly predicted. Of the 74 total nests Mr. Cañas-Valle documented, 82 percent were part of groups. Taken together, these findings implied that the birds were actively choosing group living over nesting alone.
Dr. Bouzat suspects that environmental factors originally caused the birds to aggregate but that once they bunched together, they evolved traits that made them more social, helping them adapt to their environment.
'I was very surprised to read about a truly colonial hummingbird, because most are aggressive and intolerant of others of the same species,' said Scott Robinson, an ornithologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History who was not involved in the work. 'No one would have considered a hummingbird a candidate for coloniality.'
Charles Brown, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Tulsa who also was not involved in the research, said he was not convinced, however, that the hummingbirds observed in the study actually qualified as being colonial.
Animals that live in true colonies often behave in ways that benefit their neighbors, Dr. Brown said, such as working together to find food or detect predators. While it was interesting to find hummingbirds in close quarters, 'there was no evidence of any social behavior on the part of the animals nesting in these clusters,' he said.
Mr. Cañas-Valle pointed out, however, that he observed the hummingbirds from the cave departing and returning together, suggesting a cohesive social group. 'It's not that each one is doing their own thing,' Dr. Bouzat said.
But the authors agree that more research is needed. They hope to conduct behavioral studies to determine if the hummingbirds are merely tolerating each other or are actively cooperating.
They would also like to conduct surveys for other hummingbird species in similar High Andes environments to see if they are engaging in group living, too. 'I'm sure there are other unknown caves in the mountains where hummingbirds live,' Mr. Cañas-Valle said. 'I'm expecting to find other species, for sure.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Scientists issue warning after tracking rapid shift in behavior of iconic migratory species: 'I started to investigate what was going on'
Populations of the lesser goldfinch, native to the American Southwest, are traveling northward, likely because of the changing climate and landscape modification, according to a Cornell University writeup published by While they have adapted well to their new habitats, their behavioral changes and invasions into ecosystems that are not native to them could be a cause for concern. A team of researchers from Washington State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology studied data to track the lesser goldfinch's movement. When lead writer Mason Maron visited Eastern Washington, Maron noticed flocks of 30-40 goldfinches fluttering around. Per he learned from locals that 10 years ago, there were no lesser goldfinches in the area. "So," Maron said, "I started to investigate what was going on." Maron and the team's study determined that lesser goldfinch populations increased by 110.5% in Washington, 66.3% in Idaho, and 16.9% in Oregon between 2012 and 2022, as stated in the journal Ornithology. "Our results are suggestive of this species being able to pretty rapidly colonize new environments," said co-author Jordan Boersma, per While the impressive way the lesser goldfinch has adapted to new habitats is indicative of its tenacity, it makes the species invasive. As the species eats the food available in their new environments, they disrupt the ecosystems they have invaded. This phenomenon is damaging to other members of the invaded ecosystem while also changing the moving species' behaviors. According to a research article by Florian Ruland and Jonathan Jeschke in the Journal of Animal Ecology, invasive animals in new habitats have to change their behaviors to thrive. The article said that when a species biologically invades an area, it must change its behavior to find food, evade predators, and adapt to new competition. The lesser goldfinch's adaptability is impressive, yet damaging, and the species should not have been left to make these life changes in the first place. Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty? Definitely Only in some areas No way I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The birds are moving toward areas with higher maximum temperatures and rainfall in response to rising global temperatures. Controversially, some conservationists believe assisted migration, when humans intervene and relocate entire species to new areas, is a viable way to save them. Some states are on board with this belief, but many fear the consequences of introducing potential invaders to other habitats. So, the lesser goldfinch's move north into Eastern Washington to survive is a positive to some, but it could be dangerous. Results from the study on the lesser goldfinch, however, should give researchers more insight to the potential impacts of assisted migration as well as reason to conduct further studies. "Understanding how birds like the lesser goldfinch respond to climate change and urbanization helps us predict how other species might also be impacted," Boersma said. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Forbes
08-04-2025
- Forbes
These Hummingbirds Live In Colonies In Ecuador's Andes, Surprising Scientists
The first hummingbird species to presumably nest and roost in colonies has been discovered in the high Andes of Ecuador. A wild Chimborazo Hillstar hummingbird (Oreotrochilus chimborazo chimborazo) in Ecuador. (Credit: ... More Gustavo Cañas-Valle) As ornithologists and most birders know, hummingbirds are tiny but mighty – mighty as in mighty aggressive. These small birds have rightly earned their warlike reputation because they viciously defend their territories from intruders. In fact, most bird watchers have never seen aggregations of hummingbirds that were not actively fighting over food or mates, but astonishingly, one species has overcome their bellicose nature to nest peacefully in colonies. This species, known as the Chimborazo hillstar or Ecuadorian hillstar, Oreotrochilus chimborazo, is a hummingbird that lives high in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. Initially, the study's lead author, Gustavo Cañas-Valle, a Flora, Ornithology and Mammals Guide and Tour Leader with Naturetrek Wildlife Holidays, couldn't believe his eyes when he realized what he was seeing: a group of Chimborazo hillstar hummingbirds in his native Ecuador were nesting and roosting in a colony. Gustavo Cañas-Valle, a 2024 alumnus of Bowling Green State University, made international news ... More recently by discovering a colonialy-living hummingbird species. (Image kindly provided by Bowling Green State University) 'It was mind-boggling,' Mr Cañas-Valle said. 'I knew hummingbirds were usually very aggressive to each other, so finding them nesting in the same location was amazing.' As Mr Cañas-Valle continued watching them, he 'realized that males and non-reproductive females were also roosting in the same space as reproductive females, and that goes way beyond normal biological phenomenon. Most colonies of birds tend to have reproductive females, but rarely non-reproductive females.' So of course, Mr Cañas-Valle simply had to share the news of his amazing discovery with one of his professors. He reported his observations to conservation geneticist Juan Bouzat, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Bowling Green State University. Amongst other professional activities, Professor Bouzat is an active member of an undergraduate program that focuses on mentoring underrepresented minorities and women in science and technology careers. But upon hearing the news, Professor Bouzat was skeptical. 'Hummingbirds are not a species like penguins where you see hundreds of them together,' Professor Bouzat, the study's co-author who also studies penguins, pointed out in a statement. 'These are hummingbirds that live in the High Andes, above 10,000 feet, in a very, very harsh environment above the tree line.' The hummingbirds live more than 12,000 feet above sea level on a sparsely vegetated slope of ... More Chimborazo, where nectar-providing flowers, water or shelter from freezing temperatures and biting winds are scarce. Chimborazo is a glacier-covered volcano located in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. Its last known eruption is thought to have occurred around AD 550. (Credit: Gustavo Cañas-Valle) The Ecuadorian hillstar hummingbird lives on the dry Western slopes of the Chimborazo volcano in the High Andes of Ecuador. These hummingbirds live at elevations ranging from 3,745 to 4,882 m (12,286.7 - 16,017 ft) above sea level. Mr Cañas-Valle identified 23 adults and four chicks nesting and roosting within a single cave on the Chimborazo volcano. This particular cave was located over 3,600m above sea level. The habitat in this area is cold, windy and treeless with sparsely vegetated volcanic soil that receives between 145 and 500 mm (5.7 - 19.7 inches) average rainfall per year. The Chimborazo hillstar is the only hummingbird species present in this harsh Puna-like habitat. It feeds on nectar produced by alpine flowers, mainly by the Chuquiragua, Chuquiraga jussieui, a flowering plant in the daisy family (Asteraceae), that dominates the landscape in this area. A flowering Chuquiraga (Chuquiraga jussieui) in the Ecuadorian high Andes. (Credit: Andreas Kay / ... More CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) In this challenging environment, nesting and roosting substrates appear to be limited to a few rocky volcanic outcrops, vertical substrates within ravines, natural caves, and man-made structures, including under-road culverts and houses. 'The first intuition was to say there might not be enough space – the landscape doesn't offer them suitable locations to nest in safe, protected places,' Professor Bouzat explained. But how could the team test whether Chimborazo hillstar hummingbirds nest together due to a lack of sites away from predators and the tough environmental conditions of the High Andes? '[W]e surveyed the landscape for potential sites that would be appropriate for solitary nesting,' Professor Bouzat explained (Figure 1). FIGURE 1. (A) Inlet map of continental Ecuador showing the isocline of 3,800 m delimiting the ... More distribution of Oreotrochilus chimborazo. The habitat of O. c. chimborazo (Chimborazo Hillstar) is highlighted in dark gray based on elevation and historical distribution data. The black square shows the location of the study area. (B) Map of the study area associated with the western slopes of the Chimborazo volcano (adapted from Google Earth images, https:// The map shows Transects T1 and T2, and Ravine Transects RT1 to RT5. Dotted lines represent ravines. Areas with shades of gray above the 5,000-m isocline represent regions with different levels of water availability based on glacier runoffs. The large area in light gray represents the arid zone in the rain shadow of the Chimborazo volcano. During the dry season in June to July 2021, Mr Cañas-Valle and Professor Bouzat spent 26 days looking for nests. They found 82% of these nests were clustered in 7 nesting aggregations, whereas 13 had one solitary nest each. Nesting aggregations comprised a total of 61 nests ranging from groups of 3 to 16 nests, with an average of 8.7 per locality. Roosting hummingbirds were never seen at solitary active nests, and peculiarly, nesting aggregations were consistently associated with roosting groups of non-reproductive individuals – unique amongst birds. Additionally, Mr Cañas-Valle and Professor Bouzat found unoccupied nesting sites that probably were suitable for solitary hummingbird nests, including ravines with concrete culverts that allow for water runoff to pass under roads. This finding allowed them to test their hypothesis about the role that the local environment may play in this hummingbird's social groupings. 'Some culverts showed signs of past use but were not being recurrently used across years as it happens with most birds, which was very strange,' Mr Cañas-Valle said. 'If our hypothesis that the hummingbirds are getting together because of reduced availability of nesting sites was correct, then every site available for solitary nesting should be used. But that didn't happen – many culverts were not used.' This finding suggested that Chimborazo Hillstar hummingbirds probably evolved group living for other reasons. As seen in other social species, it is reasonable to assume that these hummingbirds gain some sort of advantage by being part of a group. 'In evolutionary biology, reproductive success is the currency for adaptive evolution. Colonies typically evolve over a long time and become socially cohesive, in some cases leading to complex cooperation among individuals,' Professor Bouzat explained. 'Somehow, they get a benefit – increasing their reproductive success – from being associated with the social group.' But are these birds truly colonial? From an evolutionary perspective, large groups living together in groups typically arose for the mutual benefit of all the members of the group, relying on behaviors such as working together to find food or detect predators (i.e.; ref). 'There is a theory of information exchange as one of the potential explanations for coloniality,' Mr Cañas-Valle said. 'This is only speculation right now, but hummingbirds may get easier access to mates and food resources by an exchange of information between members of a colony. Those are the two most important things the hummingbirds gain, with also gaining a safe place to sleep that is slightly away from the harsh winds of the Chimborazo volcano region.' Nevertheless, it took years of meticulous observations to convince Professor Bouzat these birds may be living in colonies. 'It took me probably two years for Juan to say, 'Well, Gustavo, you convinced me. We can call this gathering of nests a colony from now on',' Mr Cañas-Valle said. 'I was thinking, 'Finally'.' 'That was a priceless moment.' Gustavo X Cañas-Valle and Juan L Bouzat (2024). Ecological drivers of coloniality in Oreotrochilus chimborazo chimborazo (Chimborazo Hillstar), a hummingbird endemic to the High Andes of Ecuador, Ornithology, ukae063 | doi:10.1093/ornithology/ukae063 The authors did not reply to multiple emailed requests for comment and information. Materials and photographs courtesy of Bowling Green State University. © Copyright by GrrlScientist | hosted by Forbes | Socials: Bluesky | CounterSocial | Gab | LinkedIn | Mastodon Science | Spoutible | SubStack | Threads | Tribel | Tumblr | Twitter
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Yahoo
In Ecuador, the Solitary Hummingbird Becomes Social
Hummingbirds are famously the smallest birds in the world, but they are also surprisingly aggressive with each other. Because they are so territorial, you would never think of them as living amicably in colonies. Yet one unusual species in Ecuador is nesting in colonies in the High Andes. When ornithologist Gustavo Cañas-Valle stumbled upon this fraternization among the Chimborazo Hillstar hummingbirds, he couldn't believe his eyes. 'It was mind-boggling," he said in a statement. "Finding them nesting in the same location was amazing. Then I realized that males and non-reproductive females were also roosting in the same space as reproductive females." That, he said, was even stranger. Hummingbirds are especially territorial during feeding and nesting. Females typically nest alone, while males ferociously defend their territories, sometimes to the point of fatal confrontations. The discovery of these hummingbirds that are so chummy with each other suggests that they have adapted because of environmental pressures. 'Hummingbirds are not a species like penguins where you see hundreds of them together,' co-author Juan Bouzat explained. "These are hummingbirds that live in the High Andes, above 10,000 feet, in a very, very harsh environment above the tree line." Cañas-Valle identified 23 adult birds and four chicks nesting and roosting within a single cave. This particular cave sits over 3,600m above sea level. Nearby vegetation is almost nonexistent, shelter is sparse, and temperatures at that altitude can be frigid despite its location on the equator. Cañas-Valle and Bouzat wanted to determine whether this sociability was solely due to the harsh conditions and a lack of nesting sites or if it also occurred elsewhere. The research duo scoured the area, identifying several places where solitary nesting would be possible. While some were in use, a large proportion were not. Instead, 80% of the active nests they found were within colonies. The study suggests that the birds prefer to live together rather than were forced to. Bird colonies usually exist because the individuals benefit from living together. 'Somehow, they get a the social group,' said Bouzat. What that benefit is remains up for debate. Cañas-Valle regularly saw hummingbirds leaving and returning to the cave together. He speculates that the members of the colony may be exchanging information about the location of food and mates. The situation is so unusual for hummingbirds that some experts question whether the birds are actually showing colonial behavior. Cañas-Valle and Bouzat understand the skepticism. Cañas-Valle joked that it took years just to convince his colleague. 'It took me probably two years for Juan to say, 'Well, Gustavo, you convinced me. We can call this gathering of nests a colony from now on,'' he said. 'I was thinking,' Finally.' That was a priceless moment.'
