Month: October 2010

Categories
Hummingbird Feeders Hummingbird Food

Facts About Hummingbirds and Winter

While having lunch today with a group of ladies from my church, we began having a discussion about hummingbirds and winter. This discussion let me know that many people are misinformed about hummingbirds in the winter. Because of my knowledge and love of hummingbirds, I was able to set the record straight concerning these common misconceptions regarding winter and hummingbirds. It is also what has inspired me to write today’s post and I hope that it will enlighten and entertain you.

The normal ratio that is recommended for making homemade nectar solution or sugar water is 4:1. This means four parts water to one part sugar. However, in the winter it is alright to change the ratio of your nectar or hummingbird solution to a ratio of 3:1. I make this point because many people are not aware of this and mistakenly believe that the ratio of nectar solution must always be 4:1. This simply is not true and by changing to a ratio of 3:1, you will be helping to retard the freezing of the nectar solution.

Many people also mistakenly believe that by leaving their hummingbird feeders up in winter that the hummingbirds will not migrate. It is the length of day or photoperiod is what signals to the hummingbird that it is time to migrate and this will occur regardless of whether or not your feeder remains up or not. In other words, the hummingbird will know instinctively when it is time to migrate and the feeder staying up will not stop this.

Many people also mistakenly believe that all hummingbirds must migrate, especially in the colder temperatures of winter. This is not true because not every species of hummingbird migrates. There are also those hummingbirds that are too weak or ill to make the migratory journey any longer or you could have a vagrant hummingbird in your area that is off the path of its journey. These hummingbirds will need to be fed, so it is important that they have a food source available on which to feed.

This is the common misconceptions my friends had about hummingbirds in the winter. If you yourself held any of these misconceptions, I hope that this post has served to inform you on this matter.

Categories
Hummingbird Videos Hummingbirds

Nature Hummingbirds-Majic in the Air Part 1-6

In this video you will discover why the hummingbird’s talent for fight is so very important. You will also discover information about the coordination of the hummingbird and why the hummingbird’s ability to hover is so vitally important. Much more was well,so sit back and enjoy the video as you discover a wide variety of information about hummingbirds.

Categories
Hummingbirds

Why Hummingbird Flight is Unique

For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by hummingbirds and throughout my life I have so many fond memories of watching the hummingbirds with my family, particularly my mom, while sitting on the back porch of my parents’ home. The hummingbird’s unique aerial displays and amazing flight maneuvers have always captivated my attention, and so writing this post brings to mind many found memories of observing these things with my mom. Once I began my journey to discover as much knowledge about hummingbirds as possible, I wanted to know as much as possible about the unique nature of hummingbird flight. This post will provide you some insight into what makes the flight of hummingbirds so unique and therefore fascinating.

The hummingbird is the only species bird which possesses the ability to fly forwards, backwards, up, down, sideways, or sit in sheer space. A hummingbird has the ability to sit in sheer space because of its unique ability to rotate its wings in a full circle, which is something that no other species of bird can do. A hummingbird’s wings will beat 22-78 times per second while the bird is in flight.

The hummingbird also possesses the ability to flight backwards. The hummingbird is able to do so by spreading their tail and then doing a backwards somersault. The pectoral or flight muscles account for a whopping 1/4 of the hummingbird’s its total body weight. By comparison a human’s pectoral muscles account for 5 percent of our total body weight.

Another thing that absolutely fascinates me about the nature of hummingbird flight is the hummingbird’s ability to hover. Whenever hovering, the hummingbird will move their wings forward and backwards in a repeated figure eight. Hummingbirds are known for their ability to hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 15–80 times per second (depending on the species). Capable of sustained hovering, hummingbirds also have the ability to fly backward, being the only group of birds able to do so.

If you should ever witness a hummingbird fly upside down for a short distance do not be surprised because the hummingbird has the ability to do so. This maneuver is known as a trick rollover and hummingbirds will use it whenever they are trying to evade being attacked by another bird.

As you can see, the flight ability of the hummingbird is also unique in a number of ways which helps to make this subject quite fascinating. I hope that you too will also have a greater appreciation for the unique nature of hummingbird flight.

Categories
Dear Mom Hummingbird Food

How Much Sugar is In Nectar?

While I have always known that the hummingbird is highly intelligent, I recently found out something concerning the intelligence of the hummingbird which came as a great surprise to me and it may surprise you also.

Believe it or not, hummingbirds actually possess the ability the ability to know how much sugar is in nectar. The hummingbird will reject nectar that contains less then 10% sugar. A hummingbird prefers the sugar content to be about 25%. This is one reason that hummingbirds enjoy homemade nectar solution, because it is very close to the nectar concentration of many flowers which attract hummingbirds.

This post is one which I know my mom would have enjoyed because it combines her love of hummingbirds with discovering unusual facts or information. I hope all of you who read this will also enjoy it.