ANTS: Ants are a real problem around the sweet nectar in hummingbird feeders. There are many barriers sold to put on the feeder in the ants' path. Filled with water it creates an ant moat. It also can be filled with vaseline for a longer lasting effect. All-in-all the best product is called tanglefoot.  If used carefully will block ants. It is a gooey substance that can be smeared on the hanger in an out-of-way area. I found it a farm supply store. **NOTE** Tanglefoot was designed to trap birds bothering farmers and fruit growers--hence the name Tanglefoot. Be careful not to put it where birds will perch or land. Only a small amount is needed to deter ants.

BILL: Unlike most other birds, hummingbirds bills have a pronounced overlap, with the upper bill curving around and over the sides of the smaller lower bill. When hummingbirds feed, the bill is usually only opened slightly, allowing the bill-shaped tongue to dart out and into the interior of flowers. The bill is rarely opened wide and in any case is limited in how far it can be opened, but is used for variety of tasks, including catching insects in flight, preening feathers, carrying nesting material, constructing nests, feeding baby hummingbirds and attacking rivals.

BODY TEMPERATURE: Normally 105°F can drop to 66.2°F during torpor


BRAINS, HEART AND LUNGS: Largest brain, relative to size, of all birds. The brain is 4.2% of total body weight. Hummingbirds have proportionally the largest hearts of any living animal. 1.75% to 2.5% of body weight. Resting heartbeat is 480 beats per minute and can go as high as 1,260 per second when excited. Resting hummingbirds breathe 250 times a minute.

COLORS: Hummingbird feathers have two different ways of producing color. One is through the actual pigment of the feather and the other is called "structural color", the iridescence reflecting off the facets of the feather itself. This reflective feature is what causes a hummer's gorget to glitter when you are looking at the bird head on and to become duller when seeing the same bird from another angle. Curiously, the pigment of hummingbird feathers does not include red or yellow.

COURTSHIP: Male hummingbird behavior is every woman's worst nightmare. The female locates a male, after getting his attention he will fly 75-150' in the air and then drop like a bomb, bill down, within 1-2" of her head. Mating last 3-5 seconds, then he disappears. The female finishes her nest, lays the eggs, and tends the young alone.

CROP: A specially modified part of the digestive system that stores food immediately after it is taken in. After filling crop by sipping nectar a hummingbird will rest while the crop is emptying into the rest of the digestive system. Foraging again when the crop is about ½ empty.

DIET: They catch flies, ants, small beetles, tiny wasps and other small insects. Nectar and sometimes tree sap. They need the insects for protein and nectar for energy. Sugar mixture for home feeders should only be 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water.

DISTRIBUTION: There are 162 species found in Ecuador, 135 in Columbia, 100 in Peru, 97 in Venezuela, 90 in Brazil, 54 in Costa Rica, 51 in Mexico, 19 in the Caribbean, 16 in the United States, 4 in Canada, 7 in Chile, 4 in Uruguay , and 1 in Tierra del Fuego.

EYES: Hummingbird eyes are large, immobile with both monocular and binocular vision. Both eyes will typically outweigh the brain.

FEATHERS: They have more feathers per square inch than any other bird. They have no down feathers. Many feathers are iridescent and require sunlight to show colors.

FEEDING TIMES: Hummingbirds feed about every 15-20 minutes all day long to maintain their energy levels. However at dawn and dust there is heavier feeding to catch up from the nightly fast and prepare for the night ahead. When there is a supply of nectar, as from a feeder, they may not need to feed as often as when feeding from flowers. When the weather is bad and they can't feed they will go into a state of torpor [see below] to save energy.

FEET: Hummingbirds do perch, they don't walk. Their feet seem to have no function beyond perching and scratching themselves. To move on a branch, even a small distance, they will use their wings.

FLIGHT: Hummingbirds fly with their hands.  The upper arm and forearm bones are very short, and the elbow and wrist joints can't move. The shoulder joint to which the wing attaches can move in all directions plus rotate about 180 degrees. Hummingbirds don't flap their wings, they fly with their hands. Hummingbirds fly with their bodies held upright, not flat like most birds.

FOOD: Sugar water[nectar] for energy. Mix 1 part regular table sugar to 4 parts water. Use no other type of sweeting...No honey, no juice or artificial sweetner. Here’s something else you can do for hummingbirds. Though they get the bulk of their energy needs from sipping nectar or sugar water, they need more than that to stay aloft. Most of their PROTEIN requirements, for example, are met by eating small insects. One way you can help them get that protein is by placing overripe fruit near your hummingbird feeders to attract tiny, fruit-loving flies (putting the fruit in a hanging basket works nicely). Banana skins seem to be especially effective.


HABITATS: Natural or garden areas that provide trees, bushes, flowers rich with nectar and safe places to roost and nest. Typically they will NOT be found at seashores unless migrating, grasslands, treeless sage areas.

HATCHLINGS: Baby hummers hatch in about 15 to 22 days. A relative long time compared to other birds. After the embryo has consumed all the food in the egg, it hatches with the help of 2 specialized features. One, an egg tooth is a hardened point on the tip of the undeveloped short bill. The other is a big hatching muscle on the back of its head which gives greater force to the egg tooth in pecking out of the shell. Once hatched these features disappear. Any broken shells are disposed of by the mother. The stouthearted moms fearlessly protect their nests.

HAWKING: Hummingbirds can catch insect on the wing. They hover behind and below their prey, then snatch it out of the air by darting forward and upward.

HUM: Hummingbirds sing with their hands. It is the humming of their wings that gives them their name.

INTERNAL STRUCTURE: Hummers can perform extraordinary aerobatics because of their unique anatomy. Most hummingbird bones are porous, but some, like their wing and leg bones, are hollow. A keel shaped sternum allows greater area for the attachment of huge flight muscles. Extremely long "hand bones" support the large primary feathers and enable rapid wing strokes while preventing the wings from bending. In a sense, they almost fly with their hands.

LONGEVITY: 5-10 years [or more] in the wild.

LUNGS: Hummingbirds have a highly efficient respiratory system which includes 9 internal air sacs connected to their lungs by tubes. These air sacs, along with panting help keep them cool. A quiet hummer breathes about 250 breaths a minute, 10 times greater that that of a pigeon.

Mating: See COURTSHIP above

METABOLISM: Hummingbirds eat ½ their weight each day and drink 8 times their weight in water. A hovering 3-4oz bird uses 35 calories per minute.

MIGRATION: The Rufous Hummingbird has the longest migration of any hummingbird, more than 5,000 miles a year. It flies from central Mexico to Alaska and back again. Hummingbirds migrate, not in flocks, but each one entirely alone. Males leave first followed by females several weeks later. On the south-bound journey the young leave last, flying alone on their first migration with no adult to guide them.

In its migration to Mexico, the tiny Ruby-throated hummingbird, almost unbelievably, tackles the sea crossing directly. Its cruising speed is about 27 miles an hour, so if conditions are favorable, it can make the transit, non-stop, in around 18 hours. But the passage is a formidable one and it taxes the hummingbird to the limit of it endurance. A head wind, even a mild one, may hamper it so severely that it will never reach the far shore and perish at sea.

MORTALITY: Studies of fledgling success, from hatching to full feathering, ranged from 17% to 59% of the number of eggs laid. Predation accounts for most of the nest mortality. Hummingbird mothers fearlessly attack hawks, crows, jays, chipmunks, snakes and even yellow jackets in defense of the eggs and young, but not always successfully. Accidents, high winds, cold, heavy rains, and heat, account for the remainder of fledgling deaths.


MYTHS:

[FALSE]   Hummingbirds migrate on the backs of geese.

[TRUTH] Hummingbirds DO NOT migrate on the backs of geese. Migration has been thoroughly studied and each hummingbird migrates alone.

MYTH: [FALSE] Leaving feeder up too long will deter migration. [TRUTH]: Migration is triggered by the Hummer's internal clock and the amount of sunshine [length of day]

MYTH: [FALSE] Hummingbirds eat only nectar. [TRUTH]: They will also eat insects to fulfill their protein needs.

NEST AND EGGS: Females build the nest, completing ½ before mating. Nests are 1-1 ½' bottom to top and 1 ½-2" in diameter. Soft and pliable with thick linings Can be made with mosses, leaves, thistledown, spider webs, lichens, bark fibers. Spider web may be wound round structure by bird in flight. At times sites are re-used, several nests being built, one on the other, to produce an abnormally tall structure. 2 eggs, ½" in size [very large for size of bird], are laid in the mornings, incubated by the female. It takes about 40 days from laying to fledging. The mother feeds the young by inserting her bill into each baby's mouth and regurgitating food from her own crop.

NESTLINGS: Nestlings have no feathers, are blind and only tiny bills. They need constant care from birth. Whenever they hear their mom's wings or sense movement, they beg for food. Baby food consists of regurgitated necar and insects, poked down their throats by mom. A nest is always tidy, nestlings will do acrobatics to toilet train over the side. 8-12 days after hatching the babies can maintain their own body temperature. They will fledge at about 21 days.

PREDATORS: Hawks, kestrels, large frogs, large fishes, tropical spiders, cats, praying mantis.  Hazards include spider webs, windows, bad sugar mix, storms, weather affecting flower growth.


SIZE: Range from the smallest, the Bee Hummingbird [Cuba], 2 ¼", .07 oz to the largest, the Giant Hummingbird, 8 ½", 7oz. Smallest in the United States is the Calliope Hummingbird, approximately 3", .1oz.
Total Length=Bill+Head+Body+Tail.

SLEEP: Hummingbirds roost with their necks pulled down, heads out and bills pointed up in the air.

SONGS: The only North American species known to sing is the Anna's. Most hummingbirds don't sing but have a series of squeaks.


TONGUES: Hummingbirds have long tongues, which roll up into little straw-like tubes, forming troughs for liquid nectar. They lap the nectar similar to the way cats lap.


WASTES: Hummingbirds, although small, have digestive systems that work much like those of other birds, including the generation of waste. Urine and feces leave the body through the vent, usually combined together into droppings.


WING BEATS: Small hummingbirds beat their wings 38-78 times a second., larger hummingbirds 18-28 times a second. Wingspan is measured from tip to the first articulated joint which for hummingbirds is the wrist.