Tantalizing Facts About Nature's Flying Jewels

Have you wondered how much a hummingbird weighs? Hold your hand out with your index finger pointing toward something, knuckle-side up. Balance a penny on the back of your index finger just above the middle joint. The weight of the penny is just about the weight of a hummingbird.

The thrill of my life happened at a primitive bird sanctuary in the hills outside Montego Bay in Jamaica. They sit you in a chair, hand you a little doll bottle of sugar water, and you sit with the doll bottle poised just above the back of your index finger. The hummers are so used to being fed by people, they will come and sit on your finger and drink while they look you right in the eye, up close and personal. It was an amazing experience.

There are over 340 species of hummers with new species still being discovered as a lot of their habitat remains unexplored by humans. Hummers are found only in the Western Hemisphere. Most reside in the tropics. About 21 species are seen in the US, but only a few are year-round residents. Most species are migratory but at some point in the year, hummers are seen in 49 states and the southern Canadian provinces. Hawaii is the only state that doesn't have them. The smallest species, about 2 inches long, is the bee hummingbird found in Cuba. The largest, appropriately named the Giant hummingbird, is about 8 inches long and lives in the Andes. The ruby-throated hummingbird is native to southern Mexico and northern Central America. Its summer range encompasses the entire eastern half of the United States and parts of Canada.

The tiny birds travel thousands of miles strictly to breed. They fly individually and not in flocks, with the males traveling about 3 weeks before the females. In the fall, the new juveniles are the last to leave and instinctively know what to do with no adults to guide them. With their excellent memories, they often return to the same area each summer.

They are the smallest birds in the world but have the largest heart proportionately of any animal. Their legs are very short and nearly useless. They cannot walk in the common sense and most often will become airborne even to turn around on a perch.

A hummer's tongue is twice as long as its beak. It has grooves on the sides to help it catch insects and fringe on the tip to help it lap nectar, much like a cat laps milk.

Because they have poor night vision and don't like to fly in the dark, they will go into a torpor state overnight. In torpor, their heart rate is slowed and their body temperature is lowered. People sometimes see a stunned or injured bird in the torpor state and are astonished when the "dead" bird gets up and flies away.

In a world in which birds fly only forward, the hummingbird defies all logic and does it forward or backward, side to side, upside-down, and can hover in one spot. This is because hummers get power on both the up-and down-stroke of their wings while other birds power on the down-stroke only.

Hummers can hover because the wing bones are fused into a stiff paddle. In a hover, the bird sweeps its wings in a figure-8 pattern at about 50 strokes per second. This speed is above the human ability to focus and accounts for both the blur we see and the humming sound we hear. Their flying speed is about 25 mph but they can do 60 in a dive. One species can do 90 for short distances.

Interestingly, the feather pigment colors are limited to black, brown, and reddish brown. The hummer's striking iridescent coloring actually comes from light refracting off the facets of the feathers. The feathers may appear to be different colors when viewed from different angles.

The males arrive at their summer areas first. When the females arrive, the males fly a courtship dance and call with a chirping sound. Once mated though, the male takes no part in building the nest or raising the brood. The nest is about the size of a golf ball and about 1-inch deep. The female usually lays 2 eggs, about the size of a pea.

Fewer females will be seen at the feeder while the hatchlings are in the nest because she feeds them insects. During that time, people think their hummers have left the area but they are just on a high protein diet. In fact, protein from insects is their primary food, but nectar is necessary for quick energy.

They need that energy because a hovering bird burns about 35 calories per minute and must feed at least every 15 to 20 minutes all day. Their fluid intake is the equivalent of a 200-pound human drinking about 600 pounds of water a day.

Dawn and dusk see a feeding frenzy as the bird recovers from, or gets ready for, the nightly torpor state. They have no sense of smell but very keen eyesight. They feed entirely by sight and will generally check out anything to see if it is a source of food. Our hummers seem determined that our wind chimes will someday be edible.

The need for red feeders or red nectar is a myth. Red is the color they can see from the greatest distance and will cause them to come investigate for potential food sources. However, the birds could care less about the color of their food. The use of red coloring in the nectar is controversial as some biologists believe it damages their livers. When first placing a feeder, you can call attention to it with a red bow or red ribbons which can be discarded after the food source is discovered.

The nectar you put out should be kept clean and fresh. In the heat of the summer it will ferment in about 3 days which will cause the hummers to abandon the feeder. It's like us getting bad food at a restaurant - we just won't go back.

Nearly everyone has a hummingbird story. And the story is always about "my" hummingbirds, never "the" hummingbirds. A lot of us enjoy feeding them and laughing at their antics in the summer. I hope this information will help you enjoy them even more. For more facts about hummingbirds, visit http://ozarklake.blogspot.com.

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