Hummingbird Moth

— I can now check another item off my bucket list when it comes to wildlife. In April this year, I went for a hike at the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, just 40 minutes from home in Austin, Texas. As I previously mentioned in another post, the refuge encompasses 27,500 acres of wildlife protection. Although there are various points of access to the refuge, a favorite entry point for me is the Doeskin Ranch and all its trails.

With several trails to explore, on this particular April hike, I had a specific trail I wanted to hike at the Balcones Canyonlands NWR. I have hiked all trails in the refuge, but there is something about the Indiangrass trail that attracts me. It’s a moderate trail and just 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length. It connects to other trails in the refuge, such as the popular and more difficult Rimrock trail. You will need to use any other trail in the refuge to reach the Indiangrass trail since it does not start at the parking area. Its tall grass and cedar trees cover the area. Because it was springtime, there were also several wildflowers present.

As I was meandering through the trail, at about 0.75 miles (1.2 km), I couldn’t help but notice fast movements on my left side down near the ground near some Wright’s Skullcap flowers. Because it was quiet, I could also hear the buzzing sound coming from near those flowers. I had never seen a hummingbird moth other than in photographs. I knew without a doubt what my eyes had spotted. I immediately began making photos of the moth. It was moving very fast, as hummingbirds do. Since I had been just making some macro shots in that area, my camera settings were nearly right for capturing photos of the moth. All I had to do was increase my shutter speed to make sure I would freeze the moth’s motions as it quickly moved from flower to flower. A couple of dozen photos later, I was a happy man. I knew I had good captures, but I was not ready for the level of sharpness I had obtained. Thanks to my Sony a7IV animal eye-tracking setting, I ended up with very pleasing results, as you can see in the photos here.

The Farmers’ Almanac has an article with interesting facts about hummingbird moths. One of those facts is that the moth’s “buzzing and humming sound is created by its rapid wing movement,” just like a hummingbird. Another interesting fact is that “the fast-moving hummingbird moth has a rapid wingbeat up to 70 beats per second (depending on the species), enabling it to fly up to 12 mph.” As you can see in the first photo in this article, a hummingbird moth’s wingspan can range from 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm) and their bodies are covered with “gray hair that resembles feathers.”

I will leave you with two final photos of the moth approaching the Wright’s Skullcap flowers. Be sure to click on the thumbnails for full-size photo renditions in order to see their eyes and other details.