cool hummingbird shot....you can see the mites on her beak

[Gato Moteado]

here's a female rufous tailed hummer that made a nest outside my back door last year. if you zoom the photo you'll see at least one of the mites on her beak near her face.....i am also including a crop of the area and i circled the two mites:

[AndyS]

1. Oh! a nesting hummer!

What a great opportunity to set up a blind.

Also the resolution of modern optics is amazing.

[HAB911]

2. Amazing!

[usaf-vet]

3. Are they harmful to the hummingbird? Mites have destroyed untold number of otherwise healthy......

.... honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies.

[PatSeg]

4. That's incredible

[StarryNite]

5. Whoa!

Amazing photos.

[Heartstrings]

6. Nice catch!

I have to ask too…are the mites harmful?