Faux hummingbird

What an eye-opener to go along with a second cup of coffee this morning – a hummingbird moth – well, actually a sphinx moth. Casey and Stella were totally distracted, and this specimen could have cared less, hanging around or on the front screen door all day.

The Sphinx moths are good-sized moths, and resemble hummingbirds. They are frequently misidentified as hummingbirds at first glance, since they hover over flowers, uncoil, and inject their long sucking mouthparts into the nectaries of plants. Like hummingbirds, they take their share. They also beat there wings very rapidly and are seen as nothing more than a blur while hovering over the fuchias. There is really a serious resemblance. 

Moth in door's upper right corner

The most common one we have here in western Washington is the white-line sphinx – check out the wings - or the striped morning sphinx, Celerio lineate. Impressive, huh?