Category: Hummingbirds

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Dear Mom Hummingbirds

The Tiny Size of Hummingbird Eggs

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As one of the smallest bird species it is not surprising to discover that the hummingbird lays the smallest eggs of all birds. Have you ever wondered about the size of hummingbird eggs? If so, this post will provide you with the answer you seek.

Just how tiny are the eggs of a hummingbird? The answer may surprise many of you. The eggs measure less than 1/2 an inch long. Even at this tiny size the eggs may represent as much as 10 percent of the mother’s weight at the time the eggs are laid. I do not know about you but I find it astounding that something so tiny could represent that much of the mother’s weight at the time the eggs are laid.

This kind of information makes me think of my mom and our shared love of hummingbirds. This is the kind of information that she would have found to be interesting and that I would have enjoyed getting to share with her. It is my hope that you too will enjoy discovering this information as well.

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Hummingbird Videos Hummingbirds

Black-Chinned Hummingbird Grooming

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Even a hummingbird has the need to groom itself. It is likely that few of you have actually witnessed this event firsthand, so you many wonder how the hummingbird does so. This video shows a Black-chinned Hummingbird actually grooming itself and in addition I have explained a bit about how a hummingbird accomplishes the task of grooming itself.

The hummingbird’s bill and claws are the tools it uses to groom its self. The hummingbird will clean itself by using the oil from a gland near their tail. The hummingbird will groom all parts of its body. Here is how the bird does so.

When the hummingbird wants to groom its head and neck, the bird will do so by using its front three claws like a comb. When a hummingbird wishes to groom their beak or neck, the hummingbird will do so by rubbing them against a twig.

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Hummingbirds

From Torpor to Active State

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At night hummingbirds must enter the state of torpor, which is a state similar to hibernation or a sleep-like state to ensure that they do not starve to death before dawn. I was recently asked about the length of time it takes a hummingbird to go from a state of torpor to an active state. This is what prompted today’s post.

It can can take as long as an hour for a hummingbird to awaken from a state of torpor and return to an active state. This can also happen more quickly depending on how deep the bird’s state of torpor. In that sense, hummingbirds seem to be a lot like humans because not all of us awaken as quickly as others do.

Torpor allows a hummingbird to conserve energy. In this state the hummingbird’s body temperature may drop by as much as 50 degrees, its heart rate can decrease from 500 beats per minute to less than 50 beats per minute and the bird may even stop breathing for brief period of time. While in a state of torpor, a hummingbird can use as much as 50 times less energy then when in an active state.

The ability to enter a state of torpor is vital to the hummingbird because it ensures that the hummingbird does not literally starve to death before dawn. There is however one risk to a hummingbird in this state and that is the bird’s inability to respond to emergencies while in this state.

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Dear Mom Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds By the Numbers

There are approximately 340 different species of hummingbirds in the world, yet hummingbirds make up only a small portion of the world’s total number of nearly 10,000 different bird species.

Of the approximately 340 different hummingbird species, there are only 8 species which are known to breed in the United States.

I majored in accounting in college, so numbers have always interested me. As a result, I find statistical data on hummingbirds to be quite fascinating because I can compare it to other species of birds and see where the hummingbird ranks compared to other species of birds.

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Hummingbird Pictures Hummingbirds

Andean Hillstar Hummingbird

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Andean Hillstar Hummingbird sitting on a tree branch.
Andean Hillstar Hummingbird sitting on a tree branch.

The Andean Hillstar Hummingbird is found mainly in the high altitude tropical grasslands of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.

The species is generally well adapted to cold nights in the Andes, which it survives by going into a state of torpor and thus reducing its metabolic rate to something like that of hibernation.

Some of the information for this post as well as the photo comes from the website How To Enjoy Hummingbirds. Additional information comes from Wikipedia.