Woman Develops Bond With Over 200 Hummingbirds, Now They Complain If She’s Late To Feed Them
Meet Melanie Barboni, an assistant researcher in the UCLA Earth, Planetary and Space Science program, who is also known as the ‘hummingbird whisperer’. She built a community of 200 hummingbirds who live outside her office and come to complain if she’s late to serve their dinner.
Barboni has always been a bit obsessed with hummingbirds – even when she was a child in Switzerland, a country with an almost non-existant population of this species. “My dearest dream as a child was to see hummingbirds. Imagine my joy when I found out that my next job assignment would bring me to Los Angeles, where hummingbirds live year-round,” says Barboni.
The woman adds: “I cannot go to a place where they are not there… This is cheesy, but I have seen them help people. They make my life happy. Having a crappy day? Who cares — there are hummingbirds around… Having a good day? Hummingbirds make it better…”
More info: UCLA (h/t: laughingsquid)
Meet Melanie Barboni, an assistant researcher, who is also known as the ‘hummingbird whisperer’
She built a community of 200 hummingbirds who live outside her office 
They come to complain if she’s late to serve their dinner
“My dearest dream as a child was to see hummingbirds”
“Imagine my joy when I found out that my next job… would bring me… where hummingbirds live”
“I cannot go to a place where they are not there… I have seen them help people”
“They make my life happy. Having a crappy day? Who cares — there are hummingbirds around…”
See the beauty of 200 hummingbirds for yourself:
This story reminds me of my grandma :D she used to feed birds everyday but one day she forgot, so the bird took a flower from her garden, and just ripped it. He was threatening to ruin all the plants in her garden if she won't feed him. 😂
"It's a lovely garden you got here. It would be a shame if anything happened to it."
Wow she turned a hummingbird into a socialist :)
Isn't it kind of weird? in the wild they are free and independent. Then someone comes along and makes them so dependent on her for food, so much so that they actually complain if they are not fed, instead of going looking for food themselves. Wouldn't it be interesting if we fed all the hummingbirds in the world. We'd create a species dependent on us for survival. The effect of hummingbirds no longer eating what they usually eat, how will that change the ecosystem? Will they stop pollinating plants and just fly around and hang around the feeder all day? There's a reason why there are signs in zoos that say "Don't Feed the Animals".
Yes. It would be interesting, very interesting if this one woman's bird feeders had the effect of non pollination world-wide. I'm sure this feeder isn't their only source of food. Yes, feeding wildlife isn't a great idea overall, but neither is the creating of artificial plastic hummingbird feeders, and factory farms, and cheeseburgers, yet here we are. Just enjoy it.
I am a biologist and yeah, its totally wrong you use bird feeders to hummingbirds and yeah, they can stop to visit flowers!! Another stuff, this kinda feeder grows a fungii that can go to birds beaks and kill them. It would be perfect if she studied the kinda flowers those hummingbirds visit and planted them all over the city.
I feed hummingbirds, too, up here in CT. They hover around while I refresh their nectar, but a mother hummingbird feeds her young gnats, flies, and other i sects they pluck out of the sky. The nectar helps them retain energy, and they eat from the flowers, too. Before they leave in October, I need to amp up the sugar to water ratio!
We already got a lot of species depending on us for survival. Domesticated dogs, cows, pigs etc. We stripped them of their natural abilities to survive, because we wanted cute looking pets and maximum meat producing live stock and so on.. Sad.
I think many breeds would have trouble in the wild. Chihuahuas, pugs etc.
Dogs and pigs easily go back to wild and survive on their own.
Isn't it the same thing for dogs and cats?
Hummingbirds will never be completely dependent on nectar feeders from people, because this is only a portion of their diet. They are voracious insect eaters, snapping them right out of the sky while they fly. The nectar, whether from flowers or a feeder, is a source of quick energy for them to refuel and go find more insects. In an urban area, feeders are more of a help than a hindrance, where there may be a lack of flowers the birds need.
Not all hummingbirds eat nectar AND INSECTS!! And yeah, ITS VERY WRON TO USE BIRD FEEDERS TO THEM, no matter what you think!
Or she has increased the Hummingbird population somewhat. Honestly there are so many terrible things in the world, this woman genuinely enjoying the company of Hummingbirds is not one of them.
Works with people raised in a welfare state.
Plz plant more flower, bush and tree, but not feed them directly.
This story reminds me of my grandma :D she used to feed birds everyday but one day she forgot, so the bird took a flower from her garden, and just ripped it. He was threatening to ruin all the plants in her garden if she won't feed him. 😂
"It's a lovely garden you got here. It would be a shame if anything happened to it."
Wow she turned a hummingbird into a socialist :)
Isn't it kind of weird? in the wild they are free and independent. Then someone comes along and makes them so dependent on her for food, so much so that they actually complain if they are not fed, instead of going looking for food themselves. Wouldn't it be interesting if we fed all the hummingbirds in the world. We'd create a species dependent on us for survival. The effect of hummingbirds no longer eating what they usually eat, how will that change the ecosystem? Will they stop pollinating plants and just fly around and hang around the feeder all day? There's a reason why there are signs in zoos that say "Don't Feed the Animals".
Yes. It would be interesting, very interesting if this one woman's bird feeders had the effect of non pollination world-wide. I'm sure this feeder isn't their only source of food. Yes, feeding wildlife isn't a great idea overall, but neither is the creating of artificial plastic hummingbird feeders, and factory farms, and cheeseburgers, yet here we are. Just enjoy it.
I am a biologist and yeah, its totally wrong you use bird feeders to hummingbirds and yeah, they can stop to visit flowers!! Another stuff, this kinda feeder grows a fungii that can go to birds beaks and kill them. It would be perfect if she studied the kinda flowers those hummingbirds visit and planted them all over the city.
I feed hummingbirds, too, up here in CT. They hover around while I refresh their nectar, but a mother hummingbird feeds her young gnats, flies, and other i sects they pluck out of the sky. The nectar helps them retain energy, and they eat from the flowers, too. Before they leave in October, I need to amp up the sugar to water ratio!
We already got a lot of species depending on us for survival. Domesticated dogs, cows, pigs etc. We stripped them of their natural abilities to survive, because we wanted cute looking pets and maximum meat producing live stock and so on.. Sad.
I think many breeds would have trouble in the wild. Chihuahuas, pugs etc.
Dogs and pigs easily go back to wild and survive on their own.
Isn't it the same thing for dogs and cats?
Hummingbirds will never be completely dependent on nectar feeders from people, because this is only a portion of their diet. They are voracious insect eaters, snapping them right out of the sky while they fly. The nectar, whether from flowers or a feeder, is a source of quick energy for them to refuel and go find more insects. In an urban area, feeders are more of a help than a hindrance, where there may be a lack of flowers the birds need.
Not all hummingbirds eat nectar AND INSECTS!! And yeah, ITS VERY WRON TO USE BIRD FEEDERS TO THEM, no matter what you think!
Or she has increased the Hummingbird population somewhat. Honestly there are so many terrible things in the world, this woman genuinely enjoying the company of Hummingbirds is not one of them.
Works with people raised in a welfare state.
Plz plant more flower, bush and tree, but not feed them directly.