Amazing facts about Hummingbird

Hummingbird

A hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. This wonderful animal has many interesting facts that you. Here are some of facts about this amazing creature.

• Hummingbirds get their name from the humming sound produced from rapid movement of their wings, when they are in flight.
• Hummingbirds are found only in North America and South America.
• Hummingbirds are the tiniest birds in the world, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) range.
• There are 343 species of hummingbird.
• The smallest hummingbird is the Bee Hummingbird and the largest one is the Giant Hummingbird.
• Hummingbirds have an average life span of 3 to 4 years.
• Hummingbirds can't smell.
• Hummingbird’s hearing and eyesight are better than human.
• Hummingbirds can see wavelengths into the near-ultraviolet.
• Hummingbirds have very weak feet – they mainly use them only for perching.
• A hummingbird's brain is approximately 4.2% of its body weight, the largest proportion in the bird kingdom.
• Hummingbird’s heart beat up to 1.260 times per minute and slows dramatically to 50-180 beat per minutes while resting.
• Hummingbirds have a body temperature of around 105 degrees F (40 degrees C).
• Hummingbirds don’t spend all day flying; the majority of their activity consists simply of sitting or perching.
• A hummingbird can rotate its wings in a circle.
• A Hummingbird is the only bird that can fly forwards, sideways, backwards, up, down and hover in mid-air.
• Normal flight speed for hummingbirds is about 25 miles per hour, but reaches fifty miles per hour during their courtship dives.
• During normal flight a hummingbirds wings beat about 60-80 times per second. In their courtship dives they will beat up to 200 times per second.

Hummingbird's wings beat in super slow motion

• Hummingbirds have the highest metabolic rates of any animals.
• Hummingbirds need to eat 5 to 8 times per hour for 30 to 60 seconds at a time.
• A major part of a hummingbird's diet is sugar from flower nectar and tree sap. Hummingbirds need protein to build muscle so they also eat insects and pollen.
• Hummingbirds have bills that are long and tapered, match perfectly for probing into the center of tubular shaped flowers for the nectar.
• A hummingbird will use its tongue to lap up nectar from flowers.
• Their tongue is grooved on the sides to collect nectar which they lap up at the rate of 13 licks per second.
• A hummingbird can visit an average of 1,000 flowers per day for nectar.
• Hummingbirds can eat anywhere from 2/3 to 3 times their body weight in food each day.
• To help conserve energy, hummingbirds enter into a hibernation-like state called torpor.
• A Hummingbird will lower its body temperature by about 20 degrees and up to 50 degrees while in a state of torpor.
• During torpor, the heart rate and rate of breathing are both slowed dramatically.