Clothespin

 

Day 234: Really, I ought to make these guys wear nametags. I can't tell one Clothespin from another one other than determining that some are boys and some are girls. Tiny little thing is Rufous Hummer (Selasphorus rufus). When they perch next to a wooden clothes peg on the line under the back porch awning, it towers over them by at least half an inch. That's a piece of standard 1/4" clothesline Clothespin is sitting on, if you'd like a reference for his size.

They have the awning figured out, too. They perch on the exposed line when the weather's decent, but return to cover when it rains. I'd imagine a raindrop smacking you on the head would be quite a jolt if you were as small as this. But oh, what they lack in size, they make up for in voice! An unknown ornithologist once said that a Hummingbird's vocabulary is 90% swear-words, and if you could hear them disputing territorial rights at the feeder, you'd up that estimate to 99%. The females are just as potty-mouthed as the males. I would not want to make a Hummer mad at me!