Hummingbirds—Fascinating Feathered Acrobats
By “Awake!” correspondent in Brazil
A TINY, iridescent creature swoops down, suddenly stops before a pink hibiscus blossom and hovers in midair. Quickly it moves forward and, then, straight in reverse. Once more the little creature darts forward, its long, slender bill disappearing in the blossoms. The wings are just a blur. Their sound resembles the humming of an insect. In a flash, the creature darts off sideways. Next, it moves straight up and then quickly disappears.
This feathered aerial acrobat is a hummingbird, another one of the fascinating creatures provided by God for our enjoyment. The bird’s name is derived from the sound made by its wings. Because hummingbirds flit from flower to flower, in Brazil they are called “flower kissers.”
Breakneck Aerial Stunts
Only a minute passes before another hummingbird dives from nowhere—or so it seems. What makes these creatures such amazing fliers?
One outstanding thing is their wing muscles. These represent an unusual 25 to 30 percent of the whole body weight. Ordinary birds flap their wings up and down. Not so the hummingbirds. Their unique winglets pivot forward and backward, like oars. Although the movement is not circular, the effect is much like the performance of a helicopter rotor. For example, the rotor tilts when the helicopter moves forward and backward. A hummingbird does the same thing with its wings.
Other birds can hover with their bodies motionless in the air, but the hummingbirds are the experts at it. Besides, only a hummingbird can rise vertically and instantaneously. And how about going in reverse? No other bird is able to do it. The plane of the wings simply tilts backward. Whoosh! There goes another hummingbird.
The speed of the hummingbird’s wingbeat is simply astounding. The fastest hummers may reach 90 or more strokes per second. Minute Calliphlox amethystina, weighing less than a 10th of an ounce (under 2 gm), has been known to move its wings 80 times a second. By contrast, a giant hummer, Patagona gigas, registers a mere 8 to 10 strokes a second. Surprisingly, this is less than the number of times larger birds move their wings per second.
Hummingbirds are truly sensational performers. Especially when courting, the males stage a dazzling show. Describing the enthralling marriage “dance on air” of the North American ruby-throated hummingbird, author C. H. Greenewalt said:
“The female . . . settles herself on a twig fairly near the ground. The male rises high in the air and launches a power dive that ends immediately in front of his dazzled mate-to-be, then rises precipitously so that his course resembles a large U with the female at its base.
“In this performance she chooses her position, or he may choose it for her, in such a way that she can see the light reflected from all his iridescent feathers, and so has the joy not only of his aerial acrobatics but of a beautiful color display as well.”
Sheer Bundles of Energy
Remarkable speeds of 53 miles per hour (85 km/h) in normal flight, with peaks of over 71 miles per hour (114 km/h), have been measured. Migratory species are even more surprising, for they cover tremendous distances. Of the three North American hummingbirds, ruby-throat and rufous migrate some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to their winter quarters. The broadtailed hummingbird flies from southern Mexico to the Rockies of Colorado and Wyoming, a distance of 1,500 to 2,000 miles (2,400 to 3,200 km). Now, think of its mere three inches (7.5 cm) and you have reason to wonder how such a small creature can do it.
More impressive still, ruby-throats are believed to do the 500-mile (800-km) hop across the Gulf of Mexico in one nonstop flight. They have been equipped with the extraordinary ability to store fuel-fat up to half their normal weight before the nonstop flight.
Hummingbirds dazzle the mind with their energy output. Greenewalt compared a 170-pound (77-kg) man’s daily energy output of about 3,500 calories with a hummingbird’s routine. To match the bird, the man would have to expend about 155,000 calories. This would take some 285 pounds (129 kg) of hamburger steak a day!
Of course, when it comes to food, hummingbirds do have an appetite. Using sugars as their principal energy food, together with insects and small spiders for proteins, they consume half their weight in sugar every day. Naturally, 50 to 60 meals of nectar a day is far from trifling. No wonder they are seen zipping around flowers all day long and zeroing in for a snack every 10 to 15 minutes.
Jewels of the Bird World
All 319 catalogued varieties of hummingbirds live on the American continents, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, and on neighboring islands. Their main concentration is in tropical South and Central America. With 163 kinds, Ecuador is in the lead. Brazil hosts at least 105 varieties.
The smallest hummer, and the tiniest specimen of the bird world, is the bee hummingbird of Cuba. Only two inches (5 cm) in length, it is about equal to the size of a large bumblebee. The largest hummingbird, Patagona gigas, reaches five or six inches (12.5 or 15 cm) in length.
The male ruby-throat sports a throat patch that glows in the sun like the jewel of its name. Such brilliant throat patches are common in a great number of varieties. In others, the metallic, bright colors distinguish only adult males. But there are some gorgeous females that exhibit their gay plumage as proudly as the males.
The brilliant colors of hummingbirds are not pigments but are structural. To illustrate: Think of a diamond and how it breaks up a beam of sunlight into the colors of the rainbow. Similarly, in order to get a glimpse of the iridescent plumage, the lighting must come from over your shoulders and must hit the feathers directly. But be quick, for the bird needs to flick its head just a few degrees and all the color vanishes.
Additionally, hummingbirds are endowed with lavish forms of feather arrangements. Some varieties display long, brilliant tail feathers. These flash like signal flags as the birds dart about among the flowers. Some show off fluffy tufts on the legs. Other fellows cut a dashing figure with whiskerlike plumes at the corners of the mouth.
And what an admirable variety of bills goes with the hummingbird family! For instance, the swordbill of the Andes has been described as a beak with a bird attached. Contrariwise, Ramphomicron microrhynchum owns a rare purple back but the skimpiest of bills, made for shallow flowers. The sicklebill, on the other hand, frequents curved flowers, for obvious reasons.
In 1962, Brazilian naturalist Augusto Ruschi rediscovered and caught the gorgeous rackettail (Loddigesia mirabilis) in the Peruvian Andes. This fascinating bird is so rare that it had been considered extinct. When courting, the handsome male curves its delicate twin tails under himself and frames his face with the rackets, all the while hovering in front of his spellbound lady.
Behavior and Other Lore
If you have ever had the opportunity to watch hummingbirds, you will readily agree that they are at once gorgeous and quarrelsome, curious and fearless. They come close to suck sugar water from feeders, and they may even feed from your hand.
These creatures will defend their territory against any bird, their own kind not excepted. A hummingbird will buzz around the head of a crow in fearless sallies, routing it eventually. They have been seen in skirmishes with hawks. Though 100 times larger, the hawk will beat an undignified retreat. And if two hummingbirds ever happen to get together on the same flower-laden bush, they bicker and chase.
Hummers spend their lives in the air or sitting on a perch, never on the ground. Even baths are taken while they fly. They plunge into pools, flutter through waterfalls, or fly through dewy foliage.
Despite their exquisite beauty, there is one “defect” they cannot hide. With the exception of Schistes geoffroyi, hummers have no singing voice. An intruding sparrow would carry away first prize at any hummingbird songfest. Some hummers muster an unmusical squeaking. But, alas, that is all!
Hummingbirds are indeed striking little creatures—lively and fearless, and, oh, so pugnacious! Contemplating their unrivaled variety of color and form is well worth the time. After watching them in their natural habitat, you will no doubt be prompted to agree that hummingbirds are, indeed, fascinating feathered acrobats.