The average Hummingbird has about 1,000 feathers, and they are the smallest birds in the world. Hummingbirds are named for the humming sound created by their rapidly flapping wings. On average, a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird weighs one gram less than a Bald Eagle’s primary flight feather. Most hummers live only three-five years.
Hummingbirds have an excellent memory. They often return to look for food at the exact same spot where you put your feeders the previous year. Hummingbirds don’t suck up the nectar with their bills, they have a uniquely grooved tongue that flicks into nectar and laps it up at about 10 times per second. Hummers feed on average seven-ten times per hour. Each feeding lasts upward of 30-40 seconds. A single Hummingbird can visit up to 1,000 flowers a day.
The Hummingbird is the only bird that can hover. Hummingbirds don’t flap their wings up and down, they rotate their wings at the shoulders in a figure-eight pattern. Male hummingbirds have separate territories from the female and don’t help with nest building, incubating or raising the young. Migrating hummers can reach speeds of 25-30 miles per hour. Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds can fly more than 500 miles nonstop, taking more than 24 hours to cross the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to land at wintering grounds in Central and South America.
-by Gerry Sawyer
Wild Bird and Nature Store
