This video contains some general information about hummingbirds and it also addresses some common hummingbird myths.
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Month: July 2009
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Hummingbird Release
This video shows the release of several rescued hummingbirds. This is something that not too many people ever have the opportunity to do. Most of the hummingbirds were quite eager to be released, but one wasn’t and it remained behind, at least temporarily.
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White-Eared Hummingbird
Here’s some information on the White-eared Hummingbird. The information found here is not mine and comes from Hummingbirds.Net. Since I did not write the information myself, I wish to give proper credit to the source from which the information came.
- These hummingbirds are found in high tropical mountains and they rarely breeding the U.S.
- With this species of hummingbird the male weighs slightly more then the female; on average the male will weigh 3.6 grams to the females weight of 3.2 grams.
- This species of hummingbird winters in the mountains of Mexico.
- The white-eared hummingbird has been observed in the following states: Arizona, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.
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What is Traplining?
I recently came across a term relating to hummingbird feeding that I had not heard before, so I thought I’d share it with you as well. The term is called traplining, which is when hummingbirds feed by sight on regularly followed routes. I knew that hummingbirds had no known sense of smell and were therefore dependent on their sight to locate their food but I didn’t realize that they followed a set route. Isn’t that amazing? It appears that hummingbirds are quite the little creatures of habit, because they follow a set route when looking for their food and they even follow the exact same migratory path each time.
I was recently asked if hummingbirds eat more at night. The person who asked me said that this was something they had been wondering about hummingbirds. This is what has inspired me to write this post, so I hope you will also find the information enjoyable and enlightening.
Yes, in fact hummingbirds do eat more at night. During the nighttime hours a hummingbird’s eating is all about survival and making it though the night. As a result, the hummingbird will eat as heavily as the nectar supply will allow in an effort to help it maintain its resting metabolic rate. In order to maintain that rate the hummingbird may store up to 1/3 of its body weight in nectar. This is the hummingbird’s way of striving to ensure that it won’t starve to death before dawn, which can happen in as little as two hours.
During the daytime, the hummingbirds will eat frequently for short periods of time, but this feeding isn’t as vital to their survival.