Our Top Ten Fascinating Facts about Hummingbirds

We think you'll agree that the Hummer Ring is awesome for getting up-close-and-personal with our favorite feathered creature. Hummingbirds are such amazing creatures!

Here are ten things about hummers that really fascinate us!

1) Hummingbirds have an acute vision for colors in the pink-red-orange parts of the color spectrum. It's no wonder that so many native flowers have evolved to display these colors in order to be visited by hummingbirds. Bird Man Mel recommends hanging a big red bow in your backyard to attract hummingbirds! Imagine the big red decorative bows you put up around the Holidays!

2) Hummingbirds use spider webs as a favorite building material for their nests. They also LOVE Songbird Essentials’ Hummer Helper nesting material!

3) They can be loners! Although they are the smallest migrating bird, they don't like to migrate in flocks. Often times, a hummingbird will travel hundreds of miles all alone to scout out potential nesting sites.

4) Did we mention that they can fly backwards? Hummingbirds are the only bird that can do this!

5) A group of hummingbirds is known as a bouquet. Sometimes they are also called a charm, shimmer, or glittering. They are so fascinating to see in groups that we can't decide on just a single word!

6) The hummingbird tongue can reach out over 2-3 inches! Those long, forked tongues have capillaries along the fringes to help draw nectar up into their throats.

7) One nickel. That's how much a hummingbird weighs.

8) Hummingbirds are native only to the Western Hemisphere. Sorry, our hummingbird ring feeders will not do you much good in Europe, Africa, Asia, or Australia.

9) These little hummers have huge physical stats! Their wings can flap 50-200 times per second. Average heart rate is 1,200 bpm. At rest, they take 250 breaths per minute. That just sounds  exhausting!

10) Because of #9, hummingbirds have to consume a lot of energy packed nectar! They will take in about 1/2 of their weight in sugar daily. They'll feed about a half dozen times each hour on nectar, small insects, spiders, tree sap and fruit.

There are so many amazing things about hummingbirds! We might just have to write another top ten article to round the list!

Posted Date: 2019-05-28