13 Fun Facts About Hummingbirds You May Have Heard Some

2023-09-01 08:07:04 92

Hummingbirds are the smallest known and smallest extant birds. They are migratory birds belonging to the family Swiftidae. Modern hummingbirds are mainly distributed in Central and South America. A few species are distributed in North America. Their habitats are very diverse, whether it is arid deserts or dense tropics. In the rainforest, about 24-28 species of hummingbirds are listed as endangered or critically endangered, and the numbers of many other species are also declining.

Hummingbirds are often brightly colored and are charming and beautiful birds. Hummingbirds are named because their wings make a buzzing sound while flying. They are the only birds that can fly backwards, which comes in handy when hunting for nectar from plants and insects. . Of course, there are many other amazing things about hummingbirds. Let’s take a look at this smallest migratory bird in the world.

1. How many species of hummingbirds are there?

There are more than 350 known species of hummingbirds, and new species are described every year. There were once two other species of hummingbirds that have become extinct since they were first discovered in the 19th century. Within the last 150 years the Bray's and Central American king's hummingbirds have become extinct. Hummingbirds have their own family called the Trochilidae.

2. Where do hummingbirds live?

All hummingbird species can be found in the Americas. Of the remaining hummingbird species, only eight breed regularly in the United States—the vast majority live in tropical areas of Central and South America and Caribbean countries.

3. Where does the word "hummingbird" come from?

The hummingbird family name Trochilidae comes from the Greek word used by Aristotle to describe a small bird (perhaps what we now know as the European wren).

Comparison of the size of 111 bee-sucking birds and human palms (1).png

Comparison of the size of bee-sucking birds and human palms

Even that little creature, a shuttlecock weighing 8-12 grams, looks like a big guy in this company. Most hummingbirds weigh in the 2.5-6.5 g range, with the smallest, the Cuban hummingbird, weighing only 1.6-1.9 g (just a little heavier than a standard paper clip).

It is dwarfed by many insects, with half of its 5.5cm length being made up of beak and tail. Its delicate nest is only 2.5 centimeters in diameter; its eggs are smaller than coffee beans.

4. What do hummingbirds eat?

Hummingbirds feed on nutritious plant nectar, sap, and insects. Insects eaten include spiders, insect eggs, and other small insect species, all of which provide essential protein and energy.

5. How much does a hummingbird weigh?

Hummingbirds come in all shapes and sizes, but none are heavy. An average hummingbird may weigh around 4 grams, but can bulk up to a relatively impressive 8 grams before migrating. The smallest hummingbird is the honeybee hummingbird, which is actually the smallest of all species. The male hummingbird is just over 5 centimeters long and weighs less than 2 grams, less than half the weight of a nickel.

At the other extreme are the giant hummingbirds, which are about 23 centimeters long and weigh about 20 grams, ten times the size of the honey bee hummingbird.

There are a lot of hummingbirds in between, some of them really weird. The sword-billed hummingbird's beak is even longer than its body!

6. What does a hummingbird’s nest look like?

It’s not surprising that hummingbirds have small nests, but what’s incredible is that their nests are tiny—smaller species have nests no larger than half a walnut shell!

Hummingbird nests are often hidden in the forks of branches, along twigs, or buried deep in protective bushes, and are not always easy to find. But these miniature architectural wonders made of lichen, moss and spider silk are well worth a look.

Sometimes hummingbirds will build their nests in more unusual places, such as on top of a wind chime or even balancing on a clothesline!

7. How fast does a hummingbird flap its wings?

Hummingbird species beat their wings at different speeds, with the giant hummingbird's wings beating 12 times per second. The wings of many species beat 50 to 80 times per second, making them invisible to the human eye. But this is actually very slow for a hummingbird! When they dive, they can beat their wings 200 times per second.

Their unique wings make hummingbirds the most maneuverable birds on Earth—they are the only birds 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 graphic patterns— Eight modes.

8. How fast is the heart rate of a hummingbird?

A hummingbird's heart rate can reach over 1,200 beats per minute - over 20 beats per second! Their hearts are too small for us to hear their heartbeats, but if we could hear their heartbeats, they would beat so fast that they would be just a high-pitched hum to us.

9. Do hummingbirds have natural enemies?

They may be the most agile birds in the world, but that doesn't mean hummingbirds are safe from predators. Because hummingbirds are so small, the list of hummingbird predators is actually quite long.

Reptiles like snakes and lizards will happily attack and eat hummingbirds, and large frogs and even fish will jump out of the water to catch their prey.

Other birds also eat hummingbirds—small raptors like kestrels kill them, as do shrikes, crows, and roadrunners.

Don't forget about invertebrates, too, as large mantises will latch on to passing small hummingbirds, which may even get trapped in the sticky webs of orb-weaver spiders.

Hummingbirds aren't even safe at night, as bats and owls will eat anything they roost in the dark.

10. How long is the lifespan of a hummingbird?

The typical lifespan of a wild hummingbird is 3 to 5 years, but the oldest known hummingbirds have lived up to 12 years, and they have been recorded to live up to 14 years in captivity.

Hummingbirds have very fast metabolisms, so they are always hungry! They consume about half their body weight in food every day, mostly nectar, but also small insects and spiders.

In fact, hummingbirds need to eat so much food that they would starve all night if they slept in a normal way. Instead, they enter a deeper state of sleep, which is more like a mini-hibernation state called torpor, and their metabolism slows down so they can survive the night.

11. How far do hummingbirds migrate?

Many hummingbirds spend the winter in Central America before migrating north for the spring breeding season. Their migration appears to be triggered by the sun's position in the sky and the length of the day, with individual birds often leaving or arriving at their breeding grounds on almost exactly the same day each year.

Rufous hummingbirds have the longest migration time in MexicoI flew over 6,000 kilometers between my brother and Alaska.

But perhaps even more impressive is the ruby-throated hummingbird, which flies 800 kilometers non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico. While that may not be a lot for many birds, these hummingbirds took more than 20 hours to complete the crossing—an impressive feat for a bird that typically has to eat 5-8 times per hour to avoid starvation feat.

12. How fast is a hummingbird’s tongue?

The hummingbird's tongue is a true marvel of evolution. We have only recently learned how they work through the use of specially designed transparent feeding tubes and high-speed cameras.

It turns out that hummingbirds use their tongues as elastic "micropumps" that work in a similar way to how we drink from a straw. It's just that they use the elastic energy stored at the base of their tongue to suck out the nectar, rather than creating a vacuum in the straw like we do. This is more like how we pipet up liquids using a squeeze pipette.

And this is happening at very high speeds—a hummingbird’s tongue can move in and out of a flower up to twenty times per second!

13. Are hummingbirds endangered?

Currently, about ten percent of hummingbird species are listed as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

In all cases, an important factor in their status is habitat loss and destruction. Another major concern for hummingbird conservationists is the potential impact of climate change on the birds' food supply and migration routes.

animal tags： hummer