Facts About Hummingbirds

Known as the Chupaflor (Flower-sucker), Picaflor (Flower-nibbler), and Joyas Volardores (Flying jewels) in Spanish and the Beija-flor (Flower-kisser) in Portuguese, the hummingbird has been the center of attention for some time now.

These birds are so called because their wings often make a humming sound when they fly. Among their species, the Giant hummingbird is the largest and is 8¼" or 7oz, while the Bee hummingbird, which is considered the smallest is 2 ¼" or .07 oz. Hummingbirds belong to the Trochilidae family.

Here are facts about hummingbirds, those little creatures that glow:

• The male hummingbird is more colorful than the female.
• Hummingbirds spread color, this color is created by a pigment which absorbs some color while rejecting others.
• Hummingbirds can dive 60 mph and their speed can average 25-30 mph.
• To maintain their energy levels, hummingbirds eat every 15 to 20 minutes and may visit around 1,000 flowers per day. When they are unable to feed due to the weather, they go into a condition in which their metabolic rate comes down to only one-fifteenth of normal sleep.
• A hummingbird eats spiders and gnats for protein. Sometimes it even pulls the spider out of its web in an attempt to catch an insect that is entangled there.
• Hummingbirds, with 343 species,are the second largest family of birds in the Western Hemisphere.
• The brain size of a hummingbird is 4.2% of its total body weight.
• The normal resting heartbeat of a hummingbird is 480 beats per minute, this number can go up to 1,260 per minute when it is excited. These little birds breathe 250 times per minute.
• Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards, forwards, up, down, sideways or even sit in empty space.
• Hummingbirds are more comfortable using their wings to shift in the nest or the perch because they have weak feet.
• The female hummingbird brings up the young ones without the help of the male. Female hummingbirds lay a clutch of only two white eggs and produce only a single brood every season.
• 30% of a hummingbird's total weight is made up of flight muscles.
• No other bird has as many feathers as a hummingbird has, per square inch.
• The nest of a hummingbird averages about 1-1¼" in outside diameter.
• The life span of a hummingbird is usually 5 to 10 years.
• Hummingbirds roll their tongues into straw-like tubes which are used as containers for liquid nectar.
• A hummingbird is very protective of its sources of nectar, while migrating or even otherwise.