The following story was printed in the Phuket Gazette "Nature Notes" section: Stories and photos by Dave Williams

Many people are adamant that they've seen hummingbirds here in Phuket. Unfortunately, they're wrong. However, you can't really blame them. There’s a family of moths that looks very similar to hummingbirds.

The Sphinx Moth (family Sphingidae) is also called the Hawk Moth or the Hummingbird Moth. Sphinx moths can hover in one place while sucking in nectar through a long proboscis (a long slender sucking tube). And, these moths have a wing flight pattern that’s similar to that of the hummingbird. Adding to the possible confusion, these moths can fly backwards. Sphinx Moths have wingspans ranging from 2 to 8 inches. The proboscis can exceed 10 inches in length in some species!

There are approximately 200 species of Sphinx Moths in Thailand. They exist in every province. There are about 165,000 species in the world.
Their high RPM manner of flying requires a great deal of energy. This is why these moths feed exclusively on nectar. Many of the flowers produce sizeable amounts of this simple sugary carbohydrate.

Sphinx Moths are major flower pollinators. They pollinate orchids as well as other flowers by sucking nectar with their proboscis. The tiny hairs around their faces pick up the pollen as the moth feeds and spread that pollen to other flowers.

These moths go through complete metamorphosis. There are four stages in their lifecycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. A lot of species have one generation per year, while others are capable of having several generations. Adult lifespan ranges from as short as a few days up to several months.

What's more, there is no such thing as a baby moth. All moths are adults. They will not grow any larger. They grow as caterpillars and once they emerge from the pupa, they are fully grown adult moths.

The hummingbird is native to the Americas. There are plenty of other beautiful nectar-eating birds in Thailand such as sunbirds, flowerpeckers and spiderhunters. These birds also spice up their meals by eating some insects and, as their name suggest, spiders.

So, knowing that there are no hummingbirds in Southeast Asia, if someone tells you that they’ve seen a hummingbird, go ahead and bet them that they’re wrong. Perhaps a million baht is a bit over the top though. I doubt I’ll ever get paid.