One of the things I most enjoy about writing a blog is receiving feedback from my fellow bloggers.  These comments have definitely enhanced my knowledge of wildlife. 

       With that in mind, I want to share with you a message I received from a blogger that lives in southern Mexico.  The communication was prompted by a recent blog dealing with gray rat snakes feeding on hummingbirds at a backyard bird feeder.  The response to this posting provided me with a better understanding of the predators that feed on hummingbirds outside the boundaries of the United States.  As you will learn, hummingbirds that live in this part of the world as well as hummers that winter south of the United States have to contend with predators, the likes of which few Georgians have ever imagined.

      Blogger Pelicanbreath wrote,  “I live in southern Mexico and saw a juvenile Mexican spiny-tailed iguana eating a hummingbird on the windowsill next to a feeder.  I of course chased it away and then had to chase it away from two other feeders within the next two days (it’s missing part of its tail so it’s easy to spot).  Since then, I’ve seen the lizard around but never near a feeder.

       I’ve also had a problem with Ferruginous Pigmy-Owl predation.  I’d seen them in the tree next to my house almost daily for years and I only recall one attempt to hawk a bird from a feeder.  That is, until a pair of them fledged in the same tree – and grew up surrounded by hummingbirds.  Since then, I’ve seen the owls take over ten hummingbirds.”