In this video David Attenborough provides a fascinating look at the amazing world of hummingbirds and their behavior.
Month: August 2010
The Green Bellied Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird which is found in Colombia, and Venezuela. As the variation largely is clinical, most authorities, notably SACC, consider it a single species.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montanes and heavily degraded former forest.
The information found in this post comes from Wikipedia.
Dear Readers:
Today’s post is going to be a bit different then usual and I hope you will bare with me. Rather than covering a particular topic relating to hummingbirds in today’s post, I want to ask you what questions you may have about hummingbirds? Please share them with me because it will help me be better able to provide you with the exact type of information you would like to see discussed on this blog.
While this blog already contains a wide range of information about hummingbirds, that does not mean that a particular topic cannot be improved on or expanded upon. So, please let me hear from you to give me a better idea of the topics about hummingbirds that you would like to know much more about.
After all, I truly want this blog to serve as a place of information and discussion for all who are enjoy hummingbirds. As much as I love and enjoy sharing my knowledge of hummingbirds with all who read this blog, I want you to feel that you also play an important role in making this blog the best that it can possibly be. It is impossible for me to be aware of every possible question, comment or topic suggestion that you might have, so I have no real way of knowing if your needs are being met through this blog.
Thanks to all who read this blog! You make all my effort and hard work worth it. By letting me know about any questions you have about hummingbirds or even possible topic suggestions, you are playing a vital role in making this blog the best it can possibly be. Thanks! Let’s have those questions…please.
Sincerely,
Hummingbird
It is amazing the things that one can discover while doing research on the subject of hummingbirds. The topic of today’s post is certainly no different. While recently researching a wide variety of topics about hummingbirds, I discovered that a plant known as Common Burdock can be seen as an danger to hummingbirds. This discovery was not only surprising but also fascinating to me, as I am sure it would have been to my mother as well, so I decided to share this information with you my readers as well. This post will discuss what I uncovered about this fascinating topic.
Yes, it is true that hummingbirds are very dependent on a wide variety of plants as a valuable source of nectar and this post is not intended to dispute this but to point out that the Common Burdock is a plant which has the potential to cause harm to the hummingbird.
According to Mr. Bill Hilton of Operation Ruby Throat: The Hummingbird Project, hummingbirds have become impaled on cactus spines and also trapped due to sticky tree sap. Also, the seed pods of the Common Burdock have been well documented as a hazard of the hummingbird. The pods are known as “cockleburs” which are covered by tiny hooks that can attach to the fur or pant legs of potential seed disseminators. Due to the hummingbird’s tiny size the bird can become sired by the hooks of the “cockleburs” when they come to feed on a purple burdock flower.
I am not claiming that the Common Burdock is grave hazard to a hummingbird, just pointing out that it is a highly unusual one. I find it very interesting to know that a plant can be a hazard to a hummingbird and I wanted to share this will my readers.
On a positive note, it is possible for a hummingbird to be rescued if this occurs, but the bird has to be found in time and the person who finds the bird must know how to help the bird without causing it harm. Operation Ruby Throat: The Hummingbird Project was successfully able to rescue a female Ruby Throat found in West Virginia by cutting the hooks away from its legs and then banding the bird prior to setting the bird free once more.
Honey should never be used to sweeten homemade nectar solution! I cannot stress this point enough, please do not use honey in your hummingbird feeders! This post will explain why this should never occur.
Honey will ferment extremely rapidly and as a result a deadly bacterium will form in the homemade nectar solution. Honey has been altered by the honey bees and it is therefore made up of the flower nectar and anything else that the honey bee has injected, digested and spit back out again. It may surprise you to discover that honey is not “more natural” then white cane sugar or table sugar. Honey is nothing like the sugar found in flower nectar or white table sugar.
Please do the hummingbirds a favor and never use honey as an alternate source of sweetener in your homemade nectar solution. I am certain that none of us whom enjoy hummingbirds wishes to cause harm to these magnificent birds. Homemade nectar solution is quite easy to make and it is the best way to go when feeding hummingbirds.
The recipe for homemade nectar solution is as follows:
Use 1 part white table sugar to 4 parts water. Heat the mixture on the stove, not in the microwave oven, for 1-2 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve completely, without causing the mixture to overheat and therefore become syrupy. Let the mixture cool completely and then fill and hang your hummingbird feeder.