Hummingbird Facts For Kids | Hummingbird Diet & Habitat

Come and enjoy some of the most fascinating hummingbird facts for kids. Mature hummingbirds will rarely possess a few to many white or partially white leathers, perhaps as a result of aging, autoimmune disorders, or external factors such as environmental contaminants and chronic skin irritation. Mostly, birds are beautiful but there are several facts about hummingbirds that make them interesting to even experienced birders. Hummingbirds belong to the family of Trochilidae and are included in the smallest birds worldwide, with length of around 7.5 – 13 cm (3 – 5 inches). The smallest extant hummingbird species is the Bee Hummingbird that grows to a length of just 5 cm. These beautiful birds are known to flap their wings rapidly during their flight, beating 12 – 80 times per second. Hummingbirds tend to conserve energy while they are asleep, being their ability to undergo hibernation-like state known as torpor, a point where the metabolic rate slows to only 1/15^th of its usual rate. Hummingbird is the only bird that can also fly backwards.

Amazing Hummingbird Facts For Kids

• The length of hummingbird measures around 7.5 – 13 cm (3 – 5 inches).
• The smallest hummingbird measures only 5 cm in length, and is also the smallest bird in the world.
• These species quickly flap their wings during flight with a beating estimate of 12 – 80 times per second.
• Unlike any other bird, Hummingbirds have an ability to fly backwards.
• The speed of hummingbird is up to 15 m/s (54 km/h; 34 mph).
• There are 325 recognized species of hummingbirds worldwide out of which 8 species normally breed in in the United States.
• A hummingbird’s excellent throat color is not caused by feather pigmentation, instead it’s the iridescence in an array of feathers that affects the light, moisture and other factors.
• Hummingbirds are incapable to walk hop around, instead they can scoot sideward while perching.
• There are around 1,000 – 1,500 feathers in the hummingbird which are the least in any bird species.
• The mean weight of a ruby-throated hummingbird measures around 3 grams.
• The hummingbird’s pectoral muscles comprise 25 – 30% of the whole bird’s weight and the same muscles are employed for flight purposes.
• The maximum speed of hummingbird is around 30 miles per hour, although they are capable to fly forward at a speed of 60 miles per hour.
• They lay the smallest eggs of all birds which are half inch long and it embraces as much as 10% of the hummingbird’s weight at the time eggs are laid.
• On an average, hummingbird feeds 5 – 8 times per hour. They had to utilize almost half of its weight in sugar each day.
• According to another study, hummingbirds beat 50 – 200 flaps per second that primarily depends on the air directions and conditions.
• When at rest, these birds take 250 breaths per second.
• The rufous hummingbird is known for its longest migration among hummingbird species, with the distance of more than 3,000 miles being covered from the nesting ground in Canada to the breeding habitats in Mexico.
• The ruby-throated hummingbird is capable to fly consistently for 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico during the spring season.
• The average lifespan of hummingbirds is 3 – 12 years. There are several factors that affect the hummingbird’s lifespan such as potential predators, habitat conditions, and type of species.
• They cannot smell but they certainly have keen eyesight.
• Hummingbirds lick the nectar from their forked tongue instead of sucking it. The licking speed can be well imagined by the speed which is 10 – 15 times per second.
• Hummingbirds digest natural sucrose in 20 minutes with 97% efficiency for converting sugar into energy.
• Many hummingbirds are known to breed in numbers.
• Although they are too small to be treated as intruders, but they certainly attack bird species such as crows, hawks, and jays that crosses hummingbird’s territory.
• The bill of the hummingbird can be as long as 4 inches.
• Hummingbirds are the native species of the New World and are not found outside the western Hemisphere.
• The incubation period normally lasts for 2 – 3 weeks.

Where Do Hummingbirds Live | Hummingbird Facts For Kids

North American hummingbirds have reformed to diverse kinds of habitats such as shady forest edges, coastal chaparral, alpine meadows, and desert scrub. All these habitats serve as an important source for providing the daily requirements of nectar, insects, and also offering a considerable protection from the potential predators. The ruby-throated hummingbirds prefer to build their habitats in river-bottom forests, while black-chinned hummingbirds tend to select open uplands as their breeding site. The breeding habitats of costa’s and Anna’s hummingbirds overlap in California and desert southwest, but the two species primarily stay apart from each other perhaps due to costa’s skill to exploit drier habitats. There are certain North American hummingbirds that can survive in human populations. Many hummingbirds are often sighted in the gardens where they are artificially fed with nectar plants and feeders. This, in turn, provide an absolute source for wintering and breeding.