Hummingbird Down!

I ambled into my living room yesterday and noticed something unusual…

See anything unusual?

A hummingbird was standing (well, squatting really) on my balcony. I'd never seen a hummingbird sitting on the ground in this way. Another hummingbird was hovering at the feeder, and the grounded hummer seemed to be eyeing it. I speculated that the squatting hummingbird was biding its time, waiting for the feeder to become available.

But it was odd behavior for a hummingbird. Usually they flit off if another bird approaches, or chase each other. The winner gets the feeder, and the loser flies off to perch in the trees and wait for an opening. Was this little fellow trying a new strategy? A misguided "just try and blend into the grey concrete" approach?

It seemed more likely that the hummer was injured. I crawled on my belly up to the sliding glass door and quickly snapped a picture:

Mayday, mayday! Hummingbird down!

I didn't know exactly how I could help the little creature, but I thought maybe I could put it in a shoebox with some shredded newspaper (or something) and take it to a local vet.

As I imagined this little scenario, I reached up and gingerly began opening the door—the hummingbird immediately flew off. I'm guessing it had flown into the glass door and was temporarily stunned. Having sufficiently recovered, it was startled by my opening the door and flew off again.

Hope you're okay, little fella—wherever you are.