About This Video
This video is
June 13, 2008
The nest was infested with mites. This video (16 Minutes sped up 8x) shows the mites lining up in an orderly fashion on the chicks beak, ready for the next feeding. As soon as Mom's beak touches the chick's beak the mites swarm onto the mother. Speculation at Hancock Forum is that they are just getting transportation. The birds don't seem to be irritated or too itchy.
If you know anything about this, please post a comment.
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whonu5
10 months ago 0 + -I don't know, this hummingbird seems pretty irritated by the mites, and the condition of the feathers indicates a problem as well, I think. There are many types of mites that can infest and kill birds.
There is also a type of mite that lives in flowers and depends on hummingbirds to transport them from one flower to the next. However, these mites hop on at one flower and off at the next; they only use the bird as transportation, they don't live on the bird, and don't crawl all over it.
Have you run your video by the folks at the Audubon Society? They would likely be able to give you a good answer, or direct you to somrone who can.