Fun Facts About Hummingbirds
- There are 18 hummingbird species in North America. Hummingbirds are found no where else in the world except the New World (North, Central, and South America.)
- The oldest known wild Hummingbird on recorded was a Broad-tailed Hummingbird that was over 12 years old.
- There are over 325 species of Hummingbirds, making them the second largest bird family in the world, second only to flycatchers.
- Hummingbirds weigh 1/10th of an ounce; about the weight of a penny.
- Hummingbirds’ brains are about the size of a BB.
- Hummingbirds have such underdeveloped legs that they are unable to walk.
- A mother hummingbird weighs only about eight times more than her egg.
- Hummingbirds can drink up to twice their body weight in nectar every day (most birds only eat ¼ - ½ their body weight).
- They drink nectar from plants and sugar water from feeders.
- Hummingbirds lap up nectar with their long tongues. There is a groove on either side of the tongue that creates a capillary action to help draw the nectar up the tongue and into the mouth during the lapping action.
- Hummingbirds can extend their tongue approximately a distance equal to the length of their bill.
- While lapping up nectar, Hummingbirds can move their tongues in and out of their bill at a rate of up to 12 times a second.
- Female Hummingbirds’ tongues are longer than the males.
- They eat insects and insect eggs on the ground and in trees. They love spiders and spider eggs. They use their bill and not their tongue to catch insects.
- One research study recorded an Anna’s Hummingbird visiting over a 1,000 flower blossoms a day.
- Hummingbirds can fly up to 60 miles per hour, but typically fly at 30-45 miles per hour.
- They can hover and are the only birds able to fly backwards and upside down. They can do this because of an extremely mobile shoulder joint.
- Their wings beat 20-80 times per second.
- Hummers avoid deep water, but will bathe in shallow pools or dishes, and love to take showers in sprinklers and misters.
- To keep their feathers in top shape, hummingbirds will leaf-bathe by fluttering against wet leaves.