We were enjoying some bruschetta tonight on the flower-filled deck at my in-laws. Suddenly, a fearless hummingbird appeared. At first, we thought it was a very large bumblebee, but soon we realized it had to be a crazy little hummingbird. Had to be.
I took a bunch of photos as it visited every flower on the deck, oblivious to our presence. When we got home I looked around the web trying to identify this critter, but it wasn’t listed on any hummingbird sites.
Could this be a hummingbird species new to science?
A few links and a few clicks later, I had my answer. The creature was not a hummingbird. But it wasn’t a bumblebee either. It’s a Clearwing Hummingbird Moth, emphasis on moth. It’s actually very cool. Of course, its most distinctive characteristic is that it is frequently mistaken for a weird little hummingbird. It flits around flowers in broad daylight, wings a blur, it feeds on nectar like a hummingbird, but through a crazy-lookin’ thing called a proboscis, which it coils up when it’s flying around.
But this little guy, though living under the shadow of the coveted hummingbird, deserves a little respect I think. The most respect I can show it now (don’t ask me why I’m blogging about moths at 2:15 a.m. on a Saturday night) is proper identification. It’s in the Sphingidae family, the Sphinx moths. If I had known its Latin name I would have greeted it with Hemaris thysbe.
Without further ado, my blurry “hummingbird” photos.
You can see the proboscis in this picture. You can see it much better in this picture.
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wow! those are amazing pictures! that moth is amazing! i probably missed it, but how big was it? it looks enormous!
thanks for sharing!