![]() It’s more like how we take up liquids using a squeezy pipette.Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Only they use elastic energy stored at the base of the tongue to bring up nectar, rather than creating a vacuum in a straw like we do. It turns out that hummingbirds use their tongues as elastic 'micropumps', which work in a similar way to how we drink from straws. We've only recently found out how they work by using purpose-made transparent feeding tubes and high-speed video cameras. Hummingbird tongues are a true evolutionary marvel. While that might not be a lot for many birds, it takes these hummingbirds 20+ hours to make the crossing - a remarkable feat for a bird that must normally eat 5-8 times every hour to avoid starvation. Rufous hummingbirds have the longest migration of all, traveling more than 6000 km between Mexico and Alaska.Ī rufous hummingbird, perhaps refueling ready for its next record-breaking migrationīut perhaps even more impressive is the ruby-throated hummingbird, which flies 800 km nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico. Their migrations seem to be triggered by the position of the sun in the sky and the length of the days, and individual birds will often leave or arrive on their breeding grounds on almost the exact same day every year. Many hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America before migrating northwards for the breeding season in spring. Instead, they go into a deeper state of sleep that's more like a mini hibernation called torpor, where their metabolism slows right down so that they can get through the night. In fact, hummingbirds need to eat such a ridiculous amount that they'd starve overnight if they slept in a normal way. Hummingbirds have extremely fast metabolisms, so they're always hungry! They need to consume around half their own bodyweight every day, which is mostly made up of nectar, but also small insects and spiders. Other birds will also eat hummingbirds - small birds of prey like kestrels will kill them, as will shrikes, corvids and roadrunners.ĭon't forget invertebrates either, as large praying mantises will grab a passing small hummingbird, and hummingbirds can even get caught in the sticky webs of orb-weaver spiders. Reptiles like snakes and lizards will happily strike out and eat hummingbirds, as will large frogs or even fish that jump clear out of the water to catch their prey. ![]() Because they're so small, the list of hummingbird predators is actually pretty long. They might be the most agile birds in the world, but that doesn't mean hummingbirds are safe from predators. ![]() How fast is a hummingbird's heart rate?Ī hummingbird's heart rate can reach over 1200 beats per minute - more than 20 beats every single second! Their hearts are far too small for us to hear their heartbeats, but if we could, they'd be beating so fast that it would just be a high-pitched hum to us. Their unique wings have made hummingbirds the most manoeuvrable birds on the planet - they're the only ones that can fly backwards, and the only ones that can hover for such long periods of time because of their ability to move their wings in a figure-of-eight pattern. But that's actually slow for a hummingbird! When they dive, they can flap their wings up to 200 times per second. Many species flap their wings between 50-80 beats per second, making them a blur to the human eye. Hummingbird species flap their wings at different speeds, with the giant hummingbird’s wings beating as few as 12 beats per second. © Juan Carlos Vindas/Getty How fast do hummingbirds flap their wings? Rufous-tailed hummingbird at a typical nest site in Costa Rica. An average hummingbird might weigh around 4g, but could fatten up to a relatively impressive 8g before heading off on migration. Hummingbirds come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but none of them are heavy. Insects eaten include spiders, insect eggs and other small insect species which all provide essential protein and energy. ![]() Hummingbirds eat a diet of nutrient-rich flora nectar, sap and insects. Its dainty nest measures barely 2.5cm across its eggs are smaller than coffee beans. It is dwarfed by many insects, and half of its total length of 5.5cm is bill and tail. Most hummers are in the 2.5–6.5g range, and the smallest, the bee hummingbird of Cuba, weighs just 1.6–1.9g (little more than a standard paperclip). The hummingbird family name, Trochilidae, derives from the Greek word that Aristotle used for a small bird (probably the species we now know as the European wren).Įven that little creature, a feathery ball that tips the scales at 8–12g, looks like a hunk in this company. Where does the word 'hummingbird' come from? The best wildlife livestreams to watch around the world. ![]()
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