Hovering hummers - Yuichi Takasaka - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2007

2007: Urban Wildlife - Highly Commended

Yuichi Takasaka Enlarge image Hovering hummers

Yuichi Takasaka (Japan)

Hovering hummers

'I set up some sugar-water feeders in my garden in Canada in spring, hoping a hummingbird would come and visit. The picture looks harmonious. But males arrived first, the dominant one trying to chase off the others. Females arrived about two weeks later. Once the chicks hatched, I had to refill the sugar water up to five times a day.' This tiny bird is only about eight centimetres long. But despite its size, it's an aggressive feeder and migrates huge distances. It lives in open areas and forest edges, from southern Alaska to California. But it migrates through the Rocky Mountains in July and August to take advantage of the wildflower season. It then winters in Mexico, more than 3,220 kilometres away.

Pentax *istD + Pentax SMC FA 100mm macro f2.8 lens; 1/750 sec at f4; ISO 200; flash with -1 flash exposure compensation, high-speed sync-flash mode.

This photograph is available to buy as a print.