I saw a pink and striped hummingbird moth late this evening. This one was much larger than the green and reddish colored ones I saw in the yard for several evenings last month. The picture to the left is kind of blurred, but you can still see the pink color and the stripes on the body and wings. This one was very friendly, and flew and hovered all around me, even almost touching my hand a couple of times. I had on a dark pink tshirt and it seemed to be attracted to that color. I’m definitely going to plant these pink penta flowers again next year– they attract hummingbirds, tons of butterflies and honeybees, and now hummingbird moths! It was almost dark so I didn’t get a chance to take more than these two photos, and I had to use a flash to get these. Both photos are clickable for larger versions.
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Related posts:
Hummingbird Moth Closeup Photos
More Hummingbird Moths in my yard
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I love watching these moths and have seen several this summer, but none like the one you have photographed here. it’s beautiful!
I have been seeing these on other blogs. I’ve never seen one! You did great in low light.
Leeann, I saw this one right at dark and even after dark. It was here today and yesterday also. Look around your butterfly bush very late evening, you may see one of these pink colored ones.
Mary, thanks. I see them quite often here, more this summer than I ever remember. I rarely see them during the day, it’s always very late evening and at night. I usually hear them before I see them — they sound just like a hummingbird in flight, and they come very close to me, closer than a hummingbird usually does. They seem to be drawn to the same types of flowers as hummingbirds. I’m almost positive that they would be in your area too (I’m not all that far from you, and our weather seems to be very similar). Hopefully you will get to see one some time, as they are very pretty and interesting to watch.
[...] posts: Pink and striped hummingbird moth Hummingbird [...]
I saw one at dusk yesterday and other than the antennae, would have sworn I saw a hummingbird! It was not scared and fed on a plumbago bush. I am in Fort Myers, Florida. Where else have they been sighted?
Hi Valeria,
There are many different types of these hummingbird or sphinx moths and I think they’re found all over the US. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a hummingbird too! I always love to see them in my yard.
February 10, 2009
Hobe Sound, Florida (just north of West Palm Beach and Jupiter FL… We saw one of these today. Your photos are great, this one never stopped moving. They are beautiful and funny because ours was on a red penta … we have 4 red and 6 large pink penta plants.
Thanks, Lynn B. They are almost always hard to photograph when they’re *always* moving. :) They do seem to love the pentas. Thanks for commenting.
I see these moths at dusk on a hedge of miniature bottlebrush in my yard. What a beautiful creature.
Simi Valley Ca
Hi Bob,
Yes, they truly are beautiful and fascinating, aren’t they?
Thanks for commenting.
Sherry
THINK WE HAVE JUST FOUND ONE OF THESE MOTHS IN A GARDEN IN BURY ST EDMUNDS, SUFFOLK, ENGLAND
Hi Carol,
That’s great! They are beautiful moths aren’t they?
We saw one tonight near Dallas, Tx, on our petunias. We were sure that we had just seen a new kind of hummingbird. What a beautiful sight.
Hi Caroline,
That’s what I thought when I first saw one too — they look just like little hummingbirds! Yes, they are a beautiful sight.
We HAVE found one in our Garden in Thurleigh, near Bedford in England! We have some good pictures and are currently looking after it untill we decide what to do with it! There is a butterfly park near us and we may take it there. It’s very beautiful! Please reply with any advise, should we just let it go?
Hi Shaun,
I’m not sure. If it were me, I would let it go. I don’t think it will live very long if you don’t. I didn’t realize they were so rarely seen in England. Yes, they are very beautiful! Glad you got some good photos of it.
Spotted in North Vancouver tonight. We’ve had exceptionally high temperatures lately; yesterday was 32C.
We were in our back yard and the honeysuckle, which usually attracts hummingbirds, had this very tiny thing visit, which I assumed was a baby hummingbird.
Until I saw the antennae.
A hummingbird hawk moth apparently.
Biggest ‘moth’ I’ve ever seen, but I guess these are just the words and categories that men like to use to describe the amazing things we find in nature.
Hi sean,
I almost always mistake them for small hummingbirds when I first see them. They are amazing! Thanks for your comments.
I HAD SEEN ONE TONIGHT UP HERE IN GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN. WE HAVE TONS OF PERRENIALS AROUND THE HOUSE ALMOST EVERYONE YOUU CAN HAVE. LOOKED LIKE A HUMMING BIRD TILL HE STARTED FLYING ALL OVER.
Hi Andy, It’s definitely easy to mistake them for hummingbirds at first glance. I haven’t saw any of the pink striped ones this year, but I have been seeing the greenish-yellow colored ones. I watched one on my butterfly bush today. So pretty, aren’t they? Thanks for stopping by. :)
[...] I have seen quite a few of these hummingbird moths in the yard lately, even including some of the night-flying hummingbird moths at dusk. Here’s another day-flying hummingbird moth, the Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris [...]
Just saw one in my pink petunias (Columbus OH). Could not imagine what it was, but your photo is perfect! The cat jumping against the patio door alerted me. I think, judging from kitty, he’s visited me before.
Hi Lin,
Glad my blurry photo helped identify it. :) The night-flying hummingbird moths are so hard to get a good photo of. lol, yes they would definitely get a cat’s attention!
Thanks for commenting,
Sherry
hey i saw one at my friends house and it landed on my arm is that normal?
Hi Kendall, yes, sometimes they are very friendly, especially these striped ones that fly at dusk.
Okay, thanks Sherry!
For the past 2 days we have had 2 around my house and landing on my screen door one was orange stripes and the one tonight is pink striped i love these moths they are so cool. i have gotten them to walk onto my hand a few times and taken pics of them on my hand to give a scale of how big they are
Hi Josh,
They are cool, I love to see them too. How neat that you got one to walk on your hand. Do you have a blog? Those pics would make a great post.
Thanks for commenting,
Sherry