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Hummingbirds

High Hummingbird Mortality Rate

Nature is all about survival in the animal kingdom.  Hummingbirds are no different.  It may surprise you to know that a high number of young hummingbird hatchlings don’t survive.  Studies that have been done on fledgling success, those hummingbirds that make it from hatching to full feathering, range from 17% to 59% of the number of eggs which had been laid.

There are a number of explanations for the high rate of hummingbird mortality.  The number one explanation is the various predators of the hummingbird.  A hummingbird mother will try fiercely to defend her eggs or young, but even so it is quite often with out success.

Other explainations also include the following: bad weather such as extreme cold or heat, heavy rains or even high winds.  Accidents also help to account for the high mortality rate of  hummingbird fledgling death.

 

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