Hummingbird Facts

• 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.