Humming birds

Greg says

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2014
Messages
385
Hummingbirds drink nectar, a sweet liquid inside certain flowers. They reject flower types that produce nectar that is less than 10% sugar and prefer those whose sugar content is stronger. Nectar is a poor source of nutrients, so hummingbirds meet their needs for fat, protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc. by preying on insects and spiders.

With the exception of insects, hummingbirds while in flight have the highest metabolism of all animals, a necessity in order to support the rapid beating of their wings. Their heart rate can reach as high as 1,260 beats per minute, a rate once measured in a Blue-throated Hummingbird.

Because of their tremendous metabolic requirements, hummingbirds have voracious appetites. Equivalent to the average human consuming an entire refrigerator full of food, hummingbirds eat roughly their own body weight in flower nectar every day.

Hummingbirds are capable of slowing down their metabolism at night, or any other time food is not readily available. They enter a hibernation-like state known as torpor. During torpor, the heart rate and rate of breathing are both slowed dramatically (the heart rate to roughly 50–180 beats per minute), reducing the need for food.
Studies of hummingbirds' metabolisms are highly relevant to the question of how a migrating Ruby-throated Hummingbird can cross 800 km (500 mi) of the Gulf of Mexico on a nonstop flight. This hummingbird, like other birds preparing to migrate, stores up fat to serve as fuel, thereby augmenting its weight by as much as 100 percent and hence increasing the bird's potential flying time.

Hummingbirds have long lifespans for organisms with such rapid metabolisms. Though many die during their first year of life, especially in the vulnerable period between hatching and leaving the nest (fledging), those that survive may live a decade or more.

Hummingbirds will also take sugar-water from bird feeders. Such feeders allow people to observe and enjoy hummingbirds up close while providing the birds with a reliable source of energy, especially when flower blossoms are less abundant.

White granulated sugar is the best sweetener to use in hummingbird feeders. Brown, turbinado, and "raw" sugars contain iron, which can be deadly to hummingbirds if consumed over long periods.
 

Attachments

  • c0082882bbc8b4ee5d31e6b30329e7908e73b111_m.jpg
    c0082882bbc8b4ee5d31e6b30329e7908e73b111_m.jpg
    11.9 KB · Views: 856

charlie

Admin
The Law & Order Admin
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
14,359
Location
USA
:bump2
 

bornamachine

Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
337
Awesome. The brown sugar part, will the iron actually poison these little guys? How much iron is there in the raw sugar without added mollases?
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
7,370
It takes around 150 Hummingbirds to make a cup of Hummingbird butter. But you will live forever :cool:
 
OP
Greg says

Greg says

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2014
Messages
385
Such_Saturation said:
It takes around 150 Hummingbirds to make a cup of Hummingbird butter. But you will live forever :cool:

I find after a few days of eating Hummingbird butter I can hover in front of the fridge and suck the nectar out of the OJ with my nose. ;)
 

Attachments

  • elephant.gif
    elephant.gif
    82 KB · Views: 301

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom