Beautiful weather is here...nature is waking up...and the air is full of life with the music of birds everywhere.... and if you're lucky ...you may even spy those ever so small, "Flying Jewels" as the early Spanish explorers once called them...commonly known as "Hummingbirds". What an amazing and colorful bird. These little guys hold the distinct honor of being the Western Hemisphere's second largest family of birds with approximately 343 species to their credit. That's not all......
With the fastest wing beat of any bird, hummingbirds have an average flight speed of 25-30 mph with a dive speed of up to 60 mph and a heart rate of up to 1,260 beats per minute. These little powerhouses are made up of 30% muscle with it's brain making up 4.2% of it's weight.
To maintain all that energy, hummingbirds are known to feed every 10 to 14 minutes depending on the sugar content of their food source. That means that they consume up to 2 times their body weight in food and must consume at least one time their weight in food to survive. Throughout the day a small amount of food energy is stored so when they perch at night they have just enough energy to carry them through the night without starving.
Something else unique ..... hummingbirds can move their wings in a circle allowing them to fly up, down, forwards, backwards and sideways and even hover. Hummingbirds have even been known to fly upside down for short distances when they're being attacked by another bird.
A female hummingbird will only produce one brood per season typically laying 2 white eggs smaller than a penny. It only takes 2 1/2 weeks for the eggs to hatch and they remain in the nest for up to three weeks. The life span of a hummingbird varies but typically lives up to 5 years.
With the fastest wing beat of any bird, hummingbirds have an average flight speed of 25-30 mph with a dive speed of up to 60 mph and a heart rate of up to 1,260 beats per minute. These little powerhouses are made up of 30% muscle with it's brain making up 4.2% of it's weight.
To maintain all that energy, hummingbirds are known to feed every 10 to 14 minutes depending on the sugar content of their food source. That means that they consume up to 2 times their body weight in food and must consume at least one time their weight in food to survive. Throughout the day a small amount of food energy is stored so when they perch at night they have just enough energy to carry them through the night without starving.
Something else unique ..... hummingbirds can move their wings in a circle allowing them to fly up, down, forwards, backwards and sideways and even hover. Hummingbirds have even been known to fly upside down for short distances when they're being attacked by another bird.
A female hummingbird will only produce one brood per season typically laying 2 white eggs smaller than a penny. It only takes 2 1/2 weeks for the eggs to hatch and they remain in the nest for up to three weeks. The life span of a hummingbird varies but typically lives up to 5 years.
