Naturalist pal in my area (hummingbird migration highway here) posted this on FB
Not sure if link will get you over NY Times paywall, but maybe? If you have a subscription, perhaps you could gift us non-subscribers with a link?
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/science/hummingbirds-living-in-a-hive-found-for-the-first-time.html?unlocked_article_code=1.y04.YRJ0.yy-AafIe2kEz&smid=url-share
From linked article:
>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.<
Evolution, still happening. Maybe there's hope for humans, given enough time?
= new reply since forum marked as read
