Extraordinarily Beautiful American Hummingbirds
Amazingly beautiful humming birds come in more than 160 known varieties and they are only found in the Americas. They range from miniature varieties at two and a half inches long, right up to the giant hummingbirds, which can measure eight inches in total length.
Humming Birds are found only in the Americas. They are famous for their beautiful colours and being able to hover in the air with the aid of their fast beating wings. This movement is so fast that the human eye just sees a blur and even conventional cameras only register a fuzzy wing outline. Special equipment is needed to get really good photographs of these amazing birds. They can flap their wings up to two hundred times per second and fly at a speed of up to sixty miles per hour.
These are amazingly beautiful creatures are the only species of bird that can fly backwards. They feed on nectar using their long, thin, grooved tongues, and are essential for plant pollination in the South American rain forests.
The humming sound they make comes from the movement of their wings. Their beaks are specialised according to the kind of flowers they feed on. For example, most humming birds have long, thin, straight bills but the thornbills have short, sharp ones so that they can feed from flower that are not deep and make holes lower down on the flower to feed from those where the nectar is very far down.
Humming birds have a faster metabolism than any other creature (except insects). This is essential because they need to produce enough energy to maintain the speed of their rapidly beating wings.
This very fast metabolic rate means that the lifespan of these fabulous birds is very short. Many only live for one year but their average life span is four years. There have been exception which were discovered during tagging and counting projects sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund and other similar organisations.
Humming birds are only found in the Americas and can be seen from as far north as Alaska, right down to Tierra del Fuego. Most northern species migrate before the winter and go down to Mexico before returning again in spring.
There are a few exceptions though and varieties like Anna’s Hummingbird from Southern California have started overwintering in warmer inland desert areas. The Rufous Hummingbird nests further north than any other hummingbird and can tolerate temperatures well below zero.
These are truly spectacular birds with amazing aerodynamic body shapes and wing design yet they are so very small weigh between 2 and 20 grams depending on which of the 163 known species they come from.
Source Hummingbird feather, designed to be light weight.
Image by Noël Zia Lee via Flickr
Source Unusual picture of hummingbird feeding young in a nest.
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18 Responses to “Extraordinarily Beautiful American Hummingbirds”
On February 24, 2009 at 10:10 am
Amazing! I love the pictures, great article. Lovely birds.
On February 24, 2009 at 10:15 am
Fantastic! I love hummingbirds. The photos are amazing.
On February 24, 2009 at 10:58 am
Great article and pictures. This is truely an amazing bird. Their wings move at 1000 strokes per minute, which allows it to suspend itself in mid-air. Well done.
On February 24, 2009 at 11:39 am
great article, me and my wife put feeders throughout the yard in fall so our yard is covered with them all year around.
On February 24, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Ah! Hummingbirds! Love ‘em!
On February 24, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Brilliant article, some really beautiful pictures.
On February 24, 2009 at 4:49 pm
I learned a lot about my favorite bird! Thanks!
On February 24, 2009 at 6:14 pm
the first time i came across hummingbird is when i watched the movie Pocahontas way back in my childhood days.
and i’ve only known little facts/info about them.
thanks for this article louie! really informative.
On February 24, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Very nice article. Exquisite photographs and good collection of associated information!
On February 24, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Really nice article, I had one as a pet years ago, it flew through my window and my cat got a hold of it and broke her wing so I kept her for a very long time until she passed away. I used to let her out and flutter around. She had to be one of the most unusual pets I have ever had. She used to love it when I would come home from work and take her from the cage and play with her. You brought back some really nice memories for me, thank you!
On February 24, 2009 at 10:01 pm
Hummingbirds are my favorites, My son has a bird feeder outside a bay window and the humming birds flock to it.They make a beautiful sight.
On February 25, 2009 at 12:11 am
Those birds are beautiful!
On February 25, 2009 at 2:48 am
great pictures – as a Brit we don’t see hummingbirds so this has made up in part – revivor
On February 25, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I had no idea hummingbirds are only found in the Americas. When I was a kid, our holly-hocks and Alfa bushes would be full of the little hummers. At my previous school, we had an outdoor classroom; the science teacher put up sugar-water feeders and attracted a bunch of them. They would come inside the building in if the doors were left open. Last spring, I saw a little fellow no bigger than my thumb in a flower-bed. Guess I thought anything that ubiquitous must be everywhere.
On February 26, 2009 at 6:01 am
I knew we didn’t have these is England, although I must admit that I didn’t know that they were only found in the Americas before I started researching them.
On February 27, 2009 at 2:00 am
I wish to grab all those cute birds. I love birds, people love birds.
On March 1, 2009 at 2:28 am
Another great, colourful article, Louie.
On March 22, 2009 at 12:59 am
My girl friend has humming bird feeders on her farm and she gets some really nice ones there. I will have to her post some pics here.
Louie, thanks for sharing. I’m showing her your article. She loves birds.
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