BY CHELSEA SCHUYLER
“Hummer!” our guide shouts and all eyes turn skyward just in time to witness an Anna’s Hummingbird hover for an instant in midair, then dive-bomb a male Lazuli Bunting from twelve feet up. Incredibly, a vibration of the male’s hummingbird’s tail feathers creates a single piercing “chirp!” just as he pulls up from the dive. The volume is remarkable for such a small creature.
The bunting doesn’t bat an eye; apparently he is used to this.
With his brilliant blue head, orange chest and white wing bars, the Lazuli Bunting is the “target” bird of today’s hike, and a large group of us are gathered here on Portland Oregon’s Powell Butte to see it. But before we… Continue Reading