![]() As they dance in the trees... Jimmy Buffett in "Blue Heaven Rendezvous" WHAT ARE HUMMINGBIRDS? Pollinators, dancing jewels, and zippy little birds HUMMINGBIRD FACTS: The hummingbird gets its name for the distinctive sound it makes while in flight. Hummingbirds have special flight muscles that control wing beats of 38 to 78 times per second. Hummingbirds can hover, fly upside down, and are the only birds that can fly backwards. Hummingbirds range in size of 8 inches, the giant hummingbird which lives at altitudes of 15,000 feet in the Andes Mountains, to the Cuban Bee Hummingbird, which is 2 1/4 inches, the world's smallest. Endemic to Cuba, Mellisuga helenae tips the scales at about two grams, less than the weight of a penny. Hummers have developed a unique adaption to conserve much-needed energy at night when they are unable to feed. They drop their heart rates and body temperatures to conserve energy, a state called "torpor", which is similiar to hibernation. ![]() ![]() Female Black-chinned Hummingbird Male Black-chinned Hummingbird The Black-chinned hummingbirds were photographed at the North Carolina Zoo in the Sonoran Desert exhibit.
HUMMINGBIRDS IN FLIGHT:
These pictures, though a tad blurry, somewhat show how a hummingbird's wings, tail, and body moves while in flight. They are female and male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds at my feeder at the house. ![]() ![]() ![]() FOOD: Hummingbirds drink nectar at the rate of 13 licks per second. They also have adapted unique lengths and curvatures in their bills to fit the shapes of specific species of flowers that they feed on. Wild hummingbirds get their nutrition by eating many things besides the sugar water solution that people put in their feeders. Their natural diet consists of nectar from flowers, small insects, and spiders (ewwwww!). They pluck them from twigs and leaves and by catching them in the air. They also eat tiny insects they find in flowers while sipping nectar. It is okay to put up feeders with commercially sold solutions or a 1 part suger to 4 parts water boiled solution, but it is NOT okay to feed honey or any artifical sweetener. Honey ferments easily and can cause a fungus that affects hummingbird tongues and can kill them. Sugar water solutions must be changed at least every 48 hours when the temperature is over 60 degrees F due to fermentation too. About adding red dye, it is totally unnessasary, since feeders have red on them and the dye may be harmful to hummingbirds. I never put dye in the solution and they always eat it. When to put up feeders? Depends on where you live. I put them up early in March, because if there is a hummingbird around and it is still cold, he could use the energy due to lack of flowering plants around. And I always see them very early in the year. How long to leave the feeders up? You could leave them up year-round and see what shows up, especially since the Rufous hummingbirds are being spotted in this area well into January. Just take them in at night when it get below freezing or it will freeze and bust. I take them in at night and put them out at first light everyday, due to the raccoons and bears having a "sweet tooth".
NO HUMMERS? There are several reasons you may not get any hummingbirds at your feeders, provided you live where it does get warm for at least part of the year. One is that there may be few flowers, shrubs, or trees in your area that hummingbirds like, and they may not travel to your area and will not "find" your feeder. If there are too many good food sources in the area, they may not bother with feeders. Some hummingbirds may just not want to eat at feeders. Hummingbirds may move away from the feeders to different areas to breed. And, once again, the feeders need to cleaned and fresh solution kept in them to keep hummingbirds. Also, unless you are watching, they may come and go so quickly that you never see them. But keep at it, you may just spot them. You also can attract them by planting trees for shade, perching, and nest building. Plant flowering shrubs and plants to give them natural nectar sources, and this will also attract the insects that they eat too. Having water is valuable too. They get most of their drinking water through nectar, but them bathe too. They especially enjoy a "spray" fountain. BREEDING AND NESTING: THE LOCAL HUMMINGBIRD: The Ruby-throated (Archilocus Colubris) weighs less than 3g (one tenth the weigh of a first class letter). and is no more than 3 3/4 inches long. They are found as far north as Hudson Bay in Canada, and are the predominant species found in western North Carolina (where I live).
Yet all migrate yearly across the Gulf of Mexico into the Yucatan peninsula for the winter. The shortest distance across the Gulf of Mexico is about 500 miles and must be crossed non-stop. The males initiate the up to 1,850-mile move from wintering grounds in South and Central America to breeding habitats in the United States and Canada.
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() OTHER SPECIES IN THE USA: Found in the eastern USA is mostly the Ruby-throated with the Rufous being spotted more regularly. After storms and hurricanes, especially in southern Florida, you can see non-native species.
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HUMMINGBIRD REHAB: Occasionally, a hummingbird may have an accident and may need to be brought to a rehabilitator. Just like the bird in the following photos. I have had one fly into the house, but it was just stunned. This bird was released after a little care at the WNC Nature Center. It is a female Ruby-throated hummingbird. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() "Sleep and Poetry"What is more gentle than a wind in summer? What is more soothing than the pretty hummer That stays one moment in an open flower, And buzzes cheerily from bower to bower? What is more tranquil than a musk-rose blowing In a green island, far from all men's knowing? More healthful than the leafiness of dales? More secret than a nest of nightingales? More serene than Cordelia's countenance? More full of visions than a high romance? What, but thee, Sleep? Soft closer of our eyes! Low murmurer of tender lullabies! Light hoverer around our happy pillows! Wreather of poppy buds, and weeping willows! Silent entangler of a beauty's tresses! Most happy listener! when the morning blesses Thee for enlivening all the cheerful eyes. That glance so brightly at the new sun-rise. ---John Keats (1816) ![]() References and Links
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