Hummingbirds in Greece??? (1 Viewer)

[stevethehydra]

Bit of a weird one this, not sure if the ID forum is exactly the right place for it, but can't think of anywhere better...

Talking to a friend (not a birder, although a generally outdoorsy/nature-loving person) yesterday, she mentioned that she had seen wild hummingbirds when on holiday in Greece about 15 years ago. Knowing (or "knowing") that hummingbirds are supposed to be found only in the Americas, I was quite surprised, but she was pretty sure of what she had seen, and it sounded like they were common/easy to observe.

So... has anyone heard of hummingbirds having been introduced to Greece? I would have thought I would have heard about it if they had been and they were an established population, but maybe there were just free-flying ones being kept at a particular tourist resort or something? Or something else that could plausibly be confused with a hummingbird (sunbird? honeyeater?)

 

[RafaelMatias]

Hummingbird Hawkmoths (Macroglossum stellatarum) are responsible for regular claims of hummingbirds in Portugal, from non-birders usually. I guess it might be the same in Greece and elsewhere.

 

[dantheman]

There's also a thread on here with folk convinced they've seen hummingbirds in Australia ... despite there not being any known there. Hawkmoths have been suggested there too ...

 

[birdboybowley]

That thread is funny!! But yes, hawkmoths to blame for it all

 

[dantheman]

Guess it's worth a link? -

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=27030

(This one a lot shorter and sensible http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=148353)

 

[RafaelMatias]

In addition I think it's worth saying there are hummingbirds in captivity in Europe (they are bred here: eg http://forum.vogelspeciaalclub.nl/viewtopic.php?t=1500) so coming across an escaped hummingbird eventually somewhere should not be completely impossible. However, when we're talking about several and easy to observe or a naturalized population then I'd say they're hawkmoths really...

 

[KC Foggin]

That's amazing Rafael! I never knew that. Kind of sad too.

 

[George Edwards]

There are so many non-native plants here in Europe - eg lantana - that if that horde of hummingbirds ever escaped from Marseille some would probably survive for quite a while

 

[stevethehydra]

She did emphasise how amazingly tiny the hummingbirds were, so I'm thinking the moths are probably the likeliest thing. Thanks all!