Hummingbird Facts
Here are some interesting hummingbird facts and general information about hummingbirds.
- Hummingbirds are the tiniest birds in the world.
- Hummingbirds can flash their bright colors, as well as hide them when needed.
- The bright radiant color on hummingbirds comes from iridescent coloring like on a soap bubble or prism.
- A Gorget is the bright flashing colored feathers of the hummingbird’s neck.
- A hummingbird’s brain is 4.2% of its body weight, the largest proportion in the bird kingdom.
- Hummingbirds are very smart and they can remember every flower they have been to, and how long it will take a flower to refill.
- Hummingbirds can hear better than humans
- Hummingbirds can see farther than humans.
- Hummingbirds can see ultraviolet light.
- Hummingbirds have little to no sense of smell.
- A hummingbird will use its tongue to lap up nectar from flowers and feeders.
- A hummingbird’s tongue is grooved like the shape of a “W”.
- Hummingbirds have tiny hairs on the tip of the tongue to help lap up nectar.
- A hummingbird’s beak is generally shaped like any other bird beak, just longer in proportion to its body.
- The edges of the hummingbird’s top beak will overlap the edges of the hummingbird’s bottom beak.
- A hummingbird’s bottom beak is slightly flexible.
- Hummingbirds do not drink though their beaks like a straw. They lap up nectar with their tongues.
- A hummingbird’s heart beats up to 1,260 times per minute.
- A Hummingbird’s heart beats about 250 times per minute at rest.
- A hummingbird’s heart is 2.5% of the total body weight.
- A hummingbird will take about 250 breaths per minute while at rest.
- A hummingbird’s metabolism is roughly 100 times that of an elephant.
- Hummingbirds have very weak feet and can barely walk. They prefer to fly.
- Hummingbirds like to perch.
- Hummingbirds spend most of their life perching.
- The hummingbird’s body temperature is around 107 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Hummingbirds are on average 8.5 centimeters long from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail.
- A hummingbird can weigh anywhere between 2 and 20 grams.
- A penny weighs 2.5 grams
- 30% of a hummingbird’s weight consists of flight muscles
- Humans pectoral muscles are about 5% of body weight
- Female hummingbirds are usually larger than male hummingbirds.
- An average sized hummingbird will have about 940 feathers.
- Females find iridescent feathers attractive.
- Hummingbirds do not mate for life.
- Male hummingbirds do not help raise the young.
- Female hummingbirds do all the nest building.
- A hummingbird baby is generally smaller than a penny.
- Females will lay a clutch of two eggs.
- Baby hummingbirds cannot fly.
- Baby hummingbirds will remain in a nest for three (3) weeks.
- Most hummingbirds die in the first year of life.
- Hummingbirds have an average life span of about 5 years.
- Hummingbirds can live for more than 10 years.
- The oldest known hummingbird was a Broad-Tailed Hummingbird that was captured and tagged 12 years apart.
- Male hummingbirds are very aggressive and will chase another male hummingbird out of its territory.
- A hummingbird wings will beat about 70 times per second.
- Hummingbird’s wings will beat up to 200 times per second when diving.
- Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly both forward and backwards.
- Hummingbirds can also hover in mid-air, fly sideways and even upside-down.
- A hummingbird can fly an average of 25-30 miles per hour.
- A hummingbird can dive up to 60 miles per hour.
- A hummingbird’s wings will rotate in a full circle.
- Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds have been known to travel 500 miles over the Gulf of Mexico to breeding grounds.
- It is estimated that a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird takes about twenty (20) hours to fly across the Gulf of Mexico.
- Some hummingbirds will travel over two-thousand (2,000) miles twice a year during migration times.
- The Rufous Hummingbird travels the farthest north of any other hummingbird during migration. All the way from Mexico to Alaska.
- Hummingbird DO NOT migrate on the backs of geese.
- Geese fly on different migration paths or fly-zones than hummingbirds do.
- Hummingbirds need to eat on average 7 times per hour for about 30-60 seconds.
- A hummingbird can eat anywhere from half (1/2) to eight (8) times its body weight a day.
- A hummingbird will visit an average of 1,000 flowers per day for nectar.
- Hummingbirds eat small soft bugs for protein.
- A hummingbird will lap up nectar at a rate of about 13 licks per second.
- Hummingbirds can double his/her weight before migration.
- Hummingbirds will not get addicted to a hummingbird feeder filled with nectar. The hummingbirds will leave when they need to.
- When hummingbirds sleep at night, they go into a hibernation-like state called torpor.
- Hummingbirds enter torpor to conserve energy.
- When a hummingbird goes into torpor, their metabolic rate is one-fifteenth (1/15) of normal sleep.
- Torpor can save up to 60% of a hummingbird’s available energy.
- When in torpor, and hummingbirds heart rate can drop to as few as 50 beats per minute.
- During torpor, a hummingbird can lower the body temperature to as low as 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
- When hummingbirds go into torpor, they will appear as if they are dead and have occasionally been found to be hanging upside-down.
- It can take up to an hour for a hummingbird to fully recover from torpor.
- Torpor can be fatal to a weak hummingbird.
- Hummingbirds are only found naturally in the Americas.
- Hummingbirds are found as far north as Alaska.
- Hummingbirds are found as far south as Chile.
- Hummingbirds are the second largest family of birds in the Western Hemisphere.
- There are more than 300 types or species of hummingbirds.
- Most of the types or species of hummingbirds are found in South America.
- The county of Ecuador has the largest number of types or species of hummingbirds.
- There are more than fifty (50) types or species of hummingbirds that breed in Mexico.
- There are more than fifteen (15) types or species of hummingbirds that breed in the United States.
- There are more than three (3) types or species of hummingbirds that breed in Canada.
- Hummingbirds are all part of the Trochilidae family of birds.
- Trochilidae is from the Greek trochilos, meaning small bird.
- There are two sub-families of hummingbirds:
- Typical hummingbirds
- Hermit hummingbirds
- Most hummingbird types or species do not migrate
- The smallest hummingbird is the Bee Hummingbird.
- The largest hummingbird is the Giant Hummingbird.
- White hummingbirds (or albino hummingbirds) are not a separate hummingbird type or species. They are regular hummingbirds that never developed color in their plumage.
- Hummingbirds don’t really sing, they chirp.
- A hummingbirds favorite color is red
- Hummingbirds like tubular types of flowers the most.
- Hummingbirds pollinate flowers by rubbing their forehead and face in each flower as they get the nectar.
- Many plants depend on hummingbirds for pollination.
- Hummingbirds get their name from the humming sound produced by their wings when flying.
- Early Spanish explorers called hummingbirds flying jewels.
- Names for hummingbirds in other parts of the world include:
- Beija-Flor: Portuguese for Flower-Kisser.
- Chupaflor: Spanish for Flower-Sucker.
- Joyas Voladoras: Spanish for Flying-Jewels.
- Picaflor: Spanish for Flower-Nibbler.
- El Zunzun: Caribbean for The Hummer.
- Banded hummingbirds should be reported with the banding number to 1-800-327-BAND.
- Hummingbirds don’t read books on what they are supposed to do and tend to do what they want.