Hummingbird FactsHow Do They Eat? Nests and moreOne of the interesting hummingbird facts is that they are not found in Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe. We are lucky to have hummingbirds on the American continents and some of the surrounding islands. God's living jewels, the tiny hummingbirds are found from Alaska to South America. They live from the deserts to mountains from meadows to forests. We have them wherever they are able to find flowers and small insects to eat.
MigrationThe types of hummingbirds in the United States migrate here from Mexico or Central America for the warm months of the years. Then when it gets cold they head back south again. The Anna's don't migrate and they remain in the U. S. all year long. Some of the Allen's and the Costa's remain here also without migrating.One of the interesting hummingbird facts is that they migrate all by themselves. They don't migrate in flocks like most other birds do. This probably is for safety reasons so that it is not so easy for predators to spot them. They fly only during daylight hours; I think because it is warmer for them. Another interesting hummingbird fact is how far some fly! Some like the Ruby-throat, the Rufous, and the Calliope fly astonishingly long distances for such tiny birds. Some Rufous fly all the way from Alaska to Mexico over 2,000 miles. Some Calliope fly over 2,700 miles. Many other species fly shorter distances. They fly south from the southwest U. S. to Mexico or Central America every year. The Ruby-throats fly non-stop across the Caribbean to Mexico and Central America around five hundred miles or more. They store up extra fat (almost an extra two thirds of their body weight) for the trip because they can't stop to eat on the way. Unbelievably they did not get caught in hurricane Katrina while crossing the gulf. They were smart enough to go after the hurricane. God made them so smart. God made all the animals with wonderful senses to help protect them. When the tsunami hit in Southeast Asia the wild elephants and other animals went to higher ground before the tsunami came ashore. Humans were still out on the beaches playing and got drowned by the waves. No wild animals were found drowned. The next spring they return north often to the same area and even sometimes to the same nest they used the year before. Not only do these birds fly long distances, but they also fly with amazing maneuverability. God made them better than helicopters! They not only can hover like a helicopter, something unusual in the bird world, but they can fly backwards and upside down occasionally. Their wings move so fast, sometimes up to 200 per minute. They are aptly named because you can hear their wings hum-m-ming as they fly by. 
God has made them so smart for their survival. I saw a Prickly Pear Cactus once that had a hollowed out place in a leaf. I imagined that a smart hummingbird would make her nest in the hollow leaf and thus have a refuge place for her nest with the cactus spines protecting her. God provides us all refuge when we rest in Him. I don't believe this is one of the true hummingbird facts but, I had great fun doing this hummingbird painting. See more hummingbird paintings. They keep their feathers in top shape for flying by cleaning and preening. They regularly clean their feathers by bathing in dew or rain on leaves. They flutter around in the leaves to take their bath. Or they will fly through the mist of sprinklers. I have seen them flying through the mist spray that fills our bird bath. Then when they are resting on branch they groom and oil their feathers with their beak from the oil gland on their tail end. As they pull their bill down each individual feather particularly the flight feathers, the side branches of the feather are locked back together. Thus keeping them in top condition for flight. Before they migrate they need to store up extra fat for their migration. The adult male hummers leave earlier in the fall before the females and juveniles migrate. That leaves more food for the ladies and juveniles to eat and fatten up for their trip south. With the exception of the Ruby-throat they make stops on the way to refuel their bodies. Their MetabolismOne of the interesting hummingbird facts is how fast their metabolism is. Their heart beats fast to support their rapid activity. When resting their heart beats at about five hundred times per minute. Under times of high activity it may beat up to twelve hundred times per minute. Their heart is very large compared to their body size. In fact they have the largest heart compared to their body size of any warm-blooded animal. They have a great lung system, also.Their rapid wing beat and all their activity requires large amounts of food and oxygen to support their activities. They may eat five to ten times an hour. By the end of the day they have taken in way more than their body weight in flower nectar. No wonder they like to come to our feeders.
How do hummingbirds eat?They don't suck the nectar into their bill like a straw, but instead they lap the nectar on the end of their forked tongue. They also eat small insects and spiders for protein.This female is waiting to eat some more from her Trumpet Vine.
What is Torpor?One of the most interesting hummingbird facts is the way they can conserve energy through torpor. When their food supplies are low, when it is cold, or when they need to save energy during migration, they are able to slow down their metabolic rate. This is called torpor. Because if the hummingbird does not have enough food to support it's high metabolism they will die. So this is God's way of helping them through their rough times.When they enter torpor, their body temperature drops 20 to 50 degrees lower and their heart beat lowers from the normal 500 beats per minute to 50 to 180 beats per minute. Their entire metabolism slows down to about 1/50th of their normal metabolism rate. This enables the bird to conserve it's body's food reserves so that it can make it to the next feeding time and get refueled. They commonly enter torpor at night to stretch their food reserves.
Their nests?
The hummingbird builds her nest out of grass, small leaves, roots, or pine needles, also animal fur, moss, fuzzy, furry plant parts, insect cocoons and spider webs. Another amazing hummingbird fact is that the nests are barely two inches in diameter usually made into a cup shape. And then she camouflages the outside of them with bits of bark or lichens or moss. They may be located very near to the ground or up to 60 or 70 above the ground, depending on the species. It takes her around a week to make the nest. It is a lot of work for her and sometimes she will recycle an old nest. She generally lays two eggs less than a half an inch in size. After sitting on the eggs for about two weeks the babies hatch. They are naked and blind when hatched. After they first hatch she feeds them small insects. Then she slowly adds nectar to their diet. In about four weeks they fly from the nest. The mother will continue to feed them outside of the nest for another two or three weeks before they are completely independent. Hummingbirds then live on the average of four to five years. One of the greatest hummingbird facts is that they are free and beautiful for all of us to enjoy. All we need to do is invite them into our gardens. |
