By Alice Martin

Friends of a Feather

There are approximately 350 species of hummingbirds in the world, but only about 16 varieties of them live in the United States, and the only one living east of the Mississippi River is our Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 

The name is a bit of a misnomer. Their throat isn’t “ruby” at all.  It just looks that way because of an optical effect caused by iridescent feathers on the front of their neck which are structured to reflect red light at certain angles. The color changes depending on the angle of the light hitting the feathers, appearing bright red when the light hits directly and dull or black when the bird is in shadow or turned away from the light. However, we don’t get to see that change in color very often because they are such fast movers.

Hummingbirds are adept aviators.  They are the only bird family capable of hovering for extended periods of time. Their specially adapted wings rotate from the shoulder in a horizontal figure-eight motion to generate lift while remaining stationary in the air. A hummingbird’s unique flight style allows it to fly forward, backward, up and down and even upside down with great agility.

Also, in spite of their diminutive size, their migration is impressive. Our hummingbirds left a bit ago to fly to the tropics, typically to southern Mexico.  The most intrepid hummingbirds have been known to fly from southeastern Canada to Costa Rica, crossing the Gulf of Mexico in one 500-mile flight.  With their wings flapping 53 times per second, they fly at the rate of about 30 miles per hour, so that’s about 16 hours of nonstop flight.  Not only are they quick and enduring, they are efficient, using favorable winds to travel up to 300 miles on a single gram of fat. 

Speaking of fat, to prepare for their migration, they “bulk up,” doubling their body mass by building up fat reserves with energy-dense nectar and insects. We can help them do that by planting tubular flowers in the yard or putting out a feeder.  If you do provide a feeder, be sure to learn how to make the sugar syrup and how to properly maintain the feeder.  Failing to do simple things, like using only white cane sugar for the sweetener and making sure that the food in the feeder is always fresh, can prove toxic to the hummingbirds.   

Provide a lot of food and you can have swarms of hummingbirds and they will become quite used to your presence.  They can even recognize you as a provider of sustenance.  I know someone who had so many hummingbirds in his yard, that one morning when he stepped outside to enjoy his morning coffee, one flew up to his face and checked out his nose as a possible food source.  You may prefer them to not be quite that friendly!

The hummingbird’s most essential tool for eating is its tongue.  Hummingbirds stick out their tongues, which are twice as long as their beak, to efficiently lap up nectar, not by sucking like a straw, but using a pumping mechanism that involves the tongue’s forked tip. The tongue’s forked ends spread open to trap nectar and then come together as the tongue retracts and the liquid is rolled into the center groove of the tongue.  This process, which can occur up to 15 times per second, allows the hummingbird to gather nectar rapidly and efficiently to fuel its high-speed metabolism.  

They have to keep that tongue clean.  I once observed a ruby-throated hummingbird sitting on a branch in the lilac bush and it kept sticking its tongue out.  That’s when I learned that they stick out their tongues to clean them, especially to remove sticky nectar after feeding. This action is often part of their grooming behavior, similar to preening, where they wipe their tongue against their beak to clean it. 

Ruby-throats are only about 2.8 to 3.5 inches long, weigh 0.1 to 0.3 ounces and have a wing span of 3.1 to 4.3 inches, with the female being larger than the male.  For being such tiny creatures, they must have big hearts and lungs because their hearts beat more than 1,200 times per minute and they take about 250 breaths per minute when resting.  In flight, they breathe even more rapidly. 

I probably have to end this article now even though I haven’t even touched on the male’s courtship antics, the female’s nest building skills and other fascinating features or this bird, but let me just leave you with this fact.  The ruby-throated hummingbird’s eggs are about the size of Roosevelt’s head on a U.S. dime.  How remarkable is that?