Facts About Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are small, colorful birds with iridescent feathers. Their name comes from the fact that they flap their wings so fast (about 80 times per second) that they make a humming noise. Hummingbirds can fly right, left, up, down, backwards, and even upside down. They are also able to hover by flapping their wings in a figure-8 pattern. They have a specialized long and tapered bill that is used to obtain nectar from the center of long, tubular flowers. The hummingbird’s feet are used for perching only, and are not used for hopping or walking.

Hummingbird is a small bird of the Trochilidae family. Hummingbirds are found only in North America and South America. There are over fifty species of hummingbirds that regularly breed in Mexico. The rapid beating of the hummingbirds wings (60 to 80 beats per second) makes the distinctive humming sound from which they get their name. The Hummingbird is the smallest bird and also the smallest of all animals that have a backbone. A Hummingbird has no sense of smell because a hummingbird can rotate its wings in a circle, they are the only bird that can fly forwards, backwards, up, down ,sideways and  hover in mid air.

Most people recognize hummingbirds as the very tiny creatures we often see near our homes. However, not all hummingbirds are small. Giant hummingbirds are the largest of the 320 hummingbird species. The North Carolina Zoo exhibits five giant hummingbirds, which are very rare in captivity, in its Sonoran Desert habitat.

Like other birds, hummingbirds communicate via visual displays. Hummingbirds are very territorial and have been observed chasing each other and even larger birds such as hawks away from their territories.

Hummingbird sounds are of two types, vocalizations and the sounds their wings make.Hummingbirds lack a true song. Most of their vocalizations consists of chirping hummingbird sounds.

Hummingbirds will feed 5 to 8 times every hour for 30 to 60 seconds at a time. The large portion of a hummingbirds diet is sugar  which they get from flower nectar and tree sap. Hummingbirds also eat insects and pollen to get protein to build muscle.

Percentage wise, the hummingbird has the largest brain of all birds (4.2% of its total body weight).

Most hummingbirds unfortunately die during their first year but, those that do survive that first year have an average hummingbird life span of 3 to 4 years.