Hummingbird - Knowledge

553: 3526: 1715:, in which males are smaller than females in small-bodied species, and males are larger than females in large-bodied species. The extent of this sexual size difference varies among clades of hummingbirds. For example, the Mellisugini clade (bees) exhibits a large size dimorphism, with females being larger than males. Conversely, the Lesbiini clade (coquettes) displays very little size dimorphism; males and females are similar in size. Sexual dimorphisms in bill size and shape are also present between male and female hummingbirds, where in many clades, females have longer, more curved bills favored for accessing nectar from tall flowers. For males and females of the same size, females tend to have larger bills. 504: 2994:

coevolving alongside specific hummingbirds in mutualistic pairings. Both ornithophilous plants and hummingbirds are now known to not be nearly selective enough for this to be true. Less accessible ornithophiles (for example, those requiring long bills) still rely on multiple hummingbird species for pollination. More importantly, hummingbirds tend not to be especially selective nectar-feeders, even regularly visiting non-ornithophilous plants, as well as ornithophiles which appear poorly suited for feeding by their species. Feeding efficiency is optimized, however, when birds feed on flowers better suited to their bill morphologies.

3066: 3105:, some essential acids are severely or entirely lacking. Though hummingbird protein requirements appear to be quite small, at 1.5% of the diet, nectar is still an inadequate source; most if not all hummingbirds therefore supplement their diet with the consumption of invertebrates. Insectivory is not thought to be calorically important; nonetheless, regular consumption of arthropods is considered crucial for birds to thrive. In fact, it has been suggested that the majority of non-caloric nutritional needs of hummingbirds are met by insectivory, but nectars do contain appreciable quantities of certain 669: 627: 3261: 635: 126: 1577: 3679: 3657: 3534: 492: 2632: 1691: 760: 3346: 1752: 1886: 3124:(e.g., swifts), insectivory is probably of regular importance to most hummingbirds. About 95% of individuals from 140 species in one study showed evidence of arthropod consumption, while another study found arthropod remains in 79% of over 1600 birds from sites across South and Central America. Some species have even been recorded to be largely or entirely insectivorous for periods of time, particularly when nectar sources are scarce, and possibly, for some species, with seasonal regularity in areas with a 2498:, among the smallest of all mammals, seldom live longer than 2 years. The longest recorded lifespan in the wild relates to a female broad-tailed hummingbird that was banded as an adult at least one year old, then recaptured 11 years later, making her at least 12 years old. Other longevity records for banded hummingbirds include an estimated minimum age of 10 years 1 month for a female black-chinned hummingbird similar in size to the broad-tailed hummingbird, and at least 11 years 2 months for a much larger 3137:

adaptability, particularly when appropriate nectar sources are unavailable, although nectarivory always predominates when flowers are abundant (e.g., in non-seasonal tropical habitats). In addition, the aforementioned Arizona study only surveyed a small portion of the study area, and mostly did not observe the bird while she was off the nest. Similar concerns have been raised for other reports, leading to skepticism over whether hummingbirds can in fact subsist without nectar for extended periods at all.

1620: 149: 1679: 3246: 3383: 2652: 1984:, possibly having a role in flower identity, courtship displays, territorial defense, and predator evasion. The fourth color cone would extend the range of visible colors for hummingbirds to perceive ultraviolet light and color combinations of feathers and gorgets, colorful plants, and other objects in their environment, enabling detection of as many as five non-spectral colors, including purple, ultraviolet-red, ultraviolet-green, ultraviolet-yellow, and ultraviolet-purple. 1763:, particularly for blue, green, and purple colors in the gorget and crown of males, occupies 34% of the total color space for bird feathers. White (unpigmented) feathers have the lowest incidence in the hummingbird color gamut. Hummingbird plumage color diversity evolved from sexual and social selection on plumage coloration, which correlates with the rate of hummingbird species development over millions of years. Bright plumage colors in males are part of aggressive 3404: 3141: 2705: 3217:. Both species also have more typical numbers recorded elsewhere, however. Overall, for most hummingbirds, insectivory is an essential and regular, albeit minor, component of the diet, while nectar is the primary feeding focus when conditions allow. It has been shown that floral abundance (but not floral diversity) influences hummingbird diversity, but that arthropod abundance does not (i.e., that it is non-limiting). 549:-like flight in any direction, including the ability to hover. Particularly while hovering, the wing beats produce the humming sounds, which function to alert other birds. In some species, the tail feathers produce sounds used by males during courtship flying. Hummingbirds have extremely rapid wing-beats as high as 80 per second, supported by a high metabolic rate dependent on foraging for sugars from flower nectar. 2917: 3702: 772:

Costa's, calliope, broad-tailed, and Allen's hummingbirds are in significant decline, some losing as much as 67% of their numbers since 1970 at nearly double the rate of population loss over the previous 50 years. The ruby-throated hummingbird population – the most populous North American hummingbird – decreased by 17% over the early 21st century. Habitat loss, glass collisions, cat predation,

2579: 2001: 2831:) have a distinctive wing feature during normal flight that sounds like jingling or a buzzing shrill whistle – a trill. The trill arises from air rushing through slots created by the tapered tips of the ninth and tenth primary wing feathers, creating a sound loud enough to be detected by female or competitive male hummingbirds and researchers up to 100 m away. 2003: 3415:, which 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. A negative aspect of artificial feeders, however, is that the birds may seek less flower nectar for food, and so may reduce the amount of pollination their feeding naturally provides. 2958:, being by far the most specialized such feeders among birds, as well as the only birds for whom nectar typically comprises the vast majority of energy intake. Hummingbirds exhibit numerous and extensive adaptations to nectarivory, including long, probing bills and tongues which rapidly take up fluids. Hummingbirds also possess the most sophisticated 2932: 3285:(also called bills) vary widely as an adaptation for specialized feeding, with some 7000 flowering plants pollinated by hummingbird nectar feeding. Hummingbird beak lengths range from about 6 millimetres (0.24 in) to as long as 110 millimetres (4.3 in). When catching insects in flight, a hummingbird's jaw 1743:. For example, in species of hummingbirds where males have longer bills, males do not hold a specific territory and have a lek mating system. In species where males have shorter bills than females, males defend their resources, so females benefit from a longer bill to feed from a broader range of flowers. 3555:

made from actual hummingbird parts as emblematic for vigor, energy, and propensity to do work along with their sharp beaks that symbolically mimic instruments of weaponry, bloodletting, penetration, and intimacy. Hummingbird talismans were prized as drawing sexual potency, energy, vigor, and skill at

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Hummingbirds have exceptional visual acuity providing them with discrimination of food sources while foraging. Although hummingbirds are thought to be attracted to color while seeking food, such as red flowers or artificial feeders, experiments indicate that location and flower nectar quality are the

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Estimates of overall dietary makeup for hummingbirds vary, but insectivory is often cited as comprising 5-15% of feeding time budgets, typically; 2-12% is a figure that is also cited. In one study, 84% of feeding time was allotted to nectar feeding if breeding females are included, and 89% otherwise;

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The rufous hummingbird breeds farther north than any other species of hummingbird, spending summers along coastal British Columbia and Alaska, and wintering in the southwestern United States and Mexico, with some distributed along the coasts of the subtropical Gulf of Mexico and Florida. By migrating

2113:), vocalizations were recorded in the wild to be at a frequency above 10 kHz, well outside of the known hearing ability of most birds. Song system nuclei in the hummingbird brain are similar to those songbird brains, but the hummingbird brain has specialized regions involved for song processing. 2023:

Many hummingbird species exhibit a diverse vocal repertoire of chirps, squeaks, whistles and buzzes. Vocalizations vary in complexity and spectral content during social interactions, foraging, territorial defense, courtship, and mother-nestling communication. Territorial vocal signals may be produced

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By merely shifting position, feather regions of a muted-looking bird can instantly become fiery red or vivid green. In courtship displays for one example, males of the colorful Anna's hummingbird orient their bodies and feathers toward the sun to enhance the display value of iridescent plumage toward

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consume only arthropods, and possibly because their own requirements increase, breeding females spend 3-4 times as long as males foraging for arthropods, although 65-70% of their feeding time is still devoted to nectar. Estimates for overall insectivory can be as low as <5%. Such low numbers have

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on a nonstop flight. This hummingbird, like other long-distance migrating birds, stores fat as a fuel reserve, augmenting its weight by as much as 100%, then enabling metabolic fuel for flying over open water. The amount of fat (1–2 g) used by a migrating hummingbird to cross the Gulf of Mexico in a

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Hummingbirds exhibit vocal production learning to enable song variation – "dialects" that exist across the same species. For example, the blue-throated hummingbird's song differs from typical oscine songs in its wide frequency range, extending from 1.8 kHz to about 30 kHz. It also produces

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Hummingbirds are highly sensitive to stimuli in their visual fields, responding to even minimal motion in any direction by reorienting themselves in midflight. Their visual sensitivity allows them to precisely hover in place while in complex and dynamic natural environments, functions enabled by the

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inaccessible to all but certain hummingbirds, i.e., those possessing appropriate beak morphologies (although some hummingbirds rob nectar to overcome this). Bird-pollinated plants (also termed "ornithophilous") were formerly thought to exemplify very close mutualisms, with specific flowering plants

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of body size, the rufous hummingbird makes perhaps the longest migratory journey of any bird in the world. At just over 3 inches (7.6 cm) long, rufous hummingbirds travel 3,900 miles (6,300 km) one-way from Alaska to Mexico in late summer, a distance equal to 78,470,000 body lengths, then

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Hummingbirds have the highest metabolism of all vertebrate animals – a necessity to support the rapid beating of their wings during hovering and fast forward flight. During flight and hovering, oxygen consumption per gram of muscle tissue in a hummingbird is about 10 times higher than that measured

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Hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, as the energy cost would be prohibitive; the majority of their activity consists simply of sitting or perching. Hummingbirds eat many small meals and consume around half their weight in nectar (twice their weight in nectar, if the nectar is 25% sugar) each

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Although they may not be one-to-one, there are still marked overall preferences for certain genera, families, and orders of flowering plants by hummingbirds in general, as well as by certain species of hummingbird. Flowers which are attractive to hummingbirds are often colorful (particularly red),

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hummingbirds (e.g., Allen's, calliope) vibrate during courtship display dives and produce an audible chirp caused by aeroelastic flutter. Hummingbirds cannot make the courtship dive sound when missing their outer tail feathers, and those same feathers could produce the dive sound in a wind tunnel.

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The giant hummingbird's wings beat as few as 12 times per second, and the wings of typical hummingbirds beat up to 80 times per second. As air density decreases, for example, at higher altitudes, the amount of power a hummingbird must use to hover increases. Hummingbird species adapted for life at

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associated with introduced plants, year-round nectar availability from feeders supplied by humans, milder winter temperatures associated with climate change, and acclimation of the species to a winter climate cooler than its native region. Although quantitative data are absent, it is likely that a

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vocalizations which do not function in communication. As blue-throated hummingbirds often alternate singing with catching small flying insects, it is possible the ultrasonic clicks produced during singing disrupt insect flight patterns, making insects more vulnerable to predation. Anna's, Costa's,

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tubes which run down their lengths to facilitate nectar consumption via rapid pumping in and out of the nectar. While capillary action was believed to be what drew nectar into these tubes, high-speed photography revealed that the tubes open down their sides as the tongue goes into the nectar, and

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or southern Alaska, the rufous hummingbird migrates more extensively and nests farther north than any other hummingbird species, and must tolerate occasional temperatures below freezing in its breeding territory. This cold hardiness enables it to survive temperatures below freezing, provided that

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in the pectoralis major (principal downstroke muscle) was the lowest yet recorded in a flying bird, and the primary upstroke muscle (supracoracoideus) is proportionately larger than in other bird species. Presumably due to rapid wingbeats for flight and hovering, hummingbird wings have adapted to

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Use and duration of torpor vary among hummingbird species and are affected by whether a dominant bird defends territory, with nonterritorial subordinate birds having longer periods of torpor. A hummingbird with a higher fat percentage will be less likely to enter a state of torpor compared to one

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Another evolutionary cause of this sexual bill dimorphism is that the selective forces from competition for nectar between the sexes of each species drives sexual dimorphism. Depending on which sex holds territory in the species, the other sex having a longer bill and being able to feed on a wide

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belt, where seasonal temperature changes and food sources are relatively constant, obviating the need to migrate. As the smallest living birds, hummingbirds are relatively limited at conserving heat energy, and are generally unable to maintain a presence in higher latitudes during winter months,

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of a hummingbird is able to separate apparent motion caused by the movement of the hummingbird itself from motions caused by external sources, such as an approaching predator. In natural settings full of highly complex background motion, hummingbirds are able to precisely hover in place by rapid

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During cold temperatures, Anna's hummingbirds gradually gain weight during the day as they convert sugar to fat. In addition, hummingbirds with inadequate stores of body fat or insufficient plumage are able to survive periods of subfreezing weather by lowering their metabolic rate and entering a

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The Andes Mountains appear to be a particularly rich environment for hummingbird evolution because diversification occurred simultaneously with mountain uplift over the past 10 million years. Hummingbirds remain in dynamic diversification inhabiting ecological regions across South America, North

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Of the 15 species of North American hummingbirds that inhabit the United States and Canada, several have changed their range of distribution, while others showed declines in numbers since the 1970s, including in 2023 with dozens of hummingbird species in decline. As of the 21st century, rufous,

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The metabolism of hummingbirds can slow at night or at any time when food is not readily available; the birds enter a deep-sleep state (known as torpor) to prevent energy reserves from falling to a critical level. One study of broad-tailed hummingbirds found that body weight decreased linearly

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Hummingbirds can use newly ingested sugars to fuel hovering flight within 30–45 minutes of consumption. These data suggest that hummingbirds are able to oxidize sugar in flight muscles at rates rapid enough to satisfy their extreme metabolic demands – as indicated by a 2017 review showing that

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affecting food availability, migration signals, and breeding are factors that may contribute to declining hummingbird numbers. By contrast, Anna's hummingbirds had large population growth at an accelerating rate since 2010, and expanded their range northward to reside year-round in cold winter

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Across the estimated 366 species, hummingbird weights range from as small as 2 grams (0.071 oz) to as large as 20 grams (0.71 oz). They have characteristic long, narrow beaks (bills) which may be straight (of varying lengths) or highly curved. The bee hummingbird – only 6 centimetres

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The enlargement of the brain region responsible for visual processing indicates an enhanced ability for perception and processing of fast-moving visual stimuli encountered during rapid forward flight, insect foraging, competitive interactions, and high-speed courtship. A study of broad-tailed

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Hummingbirds are named for the prominent humming sound their wingbeats make while flying and hovering to feed or interact with other hummingbirds. Humming serves communication purposes by alerting other birds of the arrival of a fellow forager or potential mate. The humming sound derives from

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of the dive. This downward acceleration during a dive is the highest reported for any vertebrate undergoing a voluntary aerial maneuver; in addition to acceleration, the speed relative to body length is the highest known for any vertebrate. For instance, it is about twice the diving speed of

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hummingbird in noctural torpor at around 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) in the Andes mountains showed that body temperature fell to 3.3 °C (38 °F), the lowest known level for a bird or non-hibernating mammal. During cold nights at altitude, hummingbirds were in torpor for 2–13 hours

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since the 1960s, particularly increasing as a year-round population during the early 21st century. Scientists estimate that some Anna's hummingbirds overwinter and presumably breed at northern latitudes where food and shelter are available throughout winter, tolerating moderately cold winter

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to improve convective cooling from air movement by the wings. When air temperatures rise above 36 °C (97 °F), thermal gradients driving heat passively by convective dissipation from around the eyes, shoulders, and feet are reduced or eliminated, requiring heat dissipation mainly by

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A slow-motion video has shown how the hummingbirds deal with rain when they are flying. To remove the water from their heads, they shake their heads and bodies, similar to a dog shaking, to shed water. Further, when raindrops collectively may weigh as much as 38% of the bird's body weight,

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and lichen to bind the nest material together and secure the structure. The unique properties of the silk allow the nest to expand as the young hummingbirds grow. Two white eggs are laid, which despite being the smallest of all bird eggs, are large relative to the adult hummingbird's size.

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in an urban park in Brazil. In Arizona, when nearby nectar sources were seemingly absent, a nesting female broad-tailed hummingbird was recorded feeding only on arthropods for two weeks. Other studies report 70-100% of feeding time devoted to arthropods; these accounts suggest a degree of

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in humans, essentially repurposing it to function as a nectar sweetness receptor. This adaptation for taste enabled hummingbirds to detect and exploit sweet nectar as an energy source, facilitating their distribution across geographical regions where nectar-bearing flowers are available.

2922: 2921: 2918: 2710: 3228:, hummingbirds are highly attuned to food sources. Some species, including many found in North America, are territorial and try to guard food sources (such as a feeder) against other hummingbirds, attempting to ensure a future food supply. Additionally, hummingbirds have an enlarged 2923: 2038: 692:

Although most hummingbird species live in remote habitats where their population numbers are difficult to assess, population studies in the United States and Canada indicate that the ruby-throated hummingbird numbers are around 34 million, rufous hummingbirds are around 19 million,

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Female hummingbirds tend to be larger, requiring more energy, with longer beaks that allow for more effective reach into crevices of tall flowers for nectar. Thus, females are better at foraging, acquiring flower nectar, and supporting the energy demands of their larger body size.

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open diurnally, and produce nectar with a high sucrose content; in ornithophilous plants, the corollas are often elongated and tubular, and they may be scentless (several of these are adaptations discouraging insect visitation). Some common genera consumed by many species include

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depending on species, with cooling occurring at the rate of 0.6 °C per minute and rewarming at 1–1.5 °C per minute. High-altitude Andean hummingbirds also lost body weight in negative proportion to how long the birds were in torpor, losing about 6% of weight each night.

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White granulated sugar is used in hummingbird feeders in a 20% concentration as a common recipe, although hummingbirds will defend feeders more aggressively when sugar content is at 35%, indicating preference for nectar with higher sugar content. Organic and "raw" sugars contain

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Hummingbirds are rare among vertebrates in their ability to rapidly make use of ingested sugars to fuel energetically expensive hovering flight, powering up to 100% of their metabolic needs with the sugars they drink. Hummingbird flight muscles have extremely high capacities for

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or artificial flavors, as well as dyes, which are unnecessary and potentially harmful. Although some commercial products contain small amounts of nutritional additives, hummingbirds obtain all necessary nutrients from the insects they eat, rendering added nutrients unnecessary.

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difficult and leaving their evolutionary history poorly documented. Though scientists theorize that hummingbirds originated in South America, where species diversity is greatest, possible ancestors of extant hummingbirds may have lived in parts of Europe and what is southern

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Behaviorally, the trill serves several purposes: It announces the sex and presence of a male bird; it provides audible aggressive defense of a feeding territory and an intrusion tactic; it enhances communication of a threat; and it favors mate attraction and courtship.

2585: 1054:, dating from 35 to 40 million years ago; this indicates that the split between these two lineages indeed occurred around that time. The areas where these early fossils have been found had a climate quite similar to that of the northern Caribbean or southernmost 2708: 1665:. These birds show high specialization and modularity, especially in communities with high species richness. These associations are also observed when closely related hummingbirds, such as two species of the same genus, visit distinct sets of flowering species. 2920: 7612:

Gahr M. (2000). "Neural song control system of hummingbirds: comparison to swifts, vocal learning (Songbirds) and nonlearning (Suboscines) passerines, and vocal learning (Budgerigars) and nonlearning (Dove, owl, gull, quail, chicken) nonpasserines".

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with less fat, as a bird can use the energy from its fat stores. Torpor in hummingbirds appears to be unrelated to nighttime temperature, as it occurs across a wide temperature range, with energy savings of such deep sleep being more related to the

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Herrera, G; Zagal, J. C.; Diaz, M; Fernández, M. J.; Vielma, A; Cure, M; Martinez, J; Bozinovic, F; Palacios, A. G. (2008). "Spectral sensitivities of photoreceptors and their role in colour discrimination in the green-backed firecrown hummingbird

2055:, plays an important role in understanding hummingbird song production. What makes the hummingbird's syrinx different from that of other birds in the Apodiformes order is the presence of internal muscle structure, accessory cartilages, and a large 2002: 2938: 2936: 2933: 853:

also far exceeds the number found in southern South America, the Caribbean islands, the United States, and Canada. While fewer than 25 different species of hummingbirds have been recorded from the United States and fewer than 10 from Canada and

2908:, and may be time-coordinated with flower and tree-leaf emergence in early spring, and also with availability of insects as food. Arrival at breeding grounds before nectar availability from mature flowers may jeopardize breeding opportunities. 2775:

When courting, the male Anna's hummingbird ascends some 35 m (115 ft) above a female, before diving at a speed of 27 m/s (89 ft/s), equal to 385 body lengths/sec – producing a high-pitched sound near the female at the

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Sexual size and bill differences likely evolved due to constraints imposed by courtship, because mating displays of male hummingbirds require complex aerial maneuvers. Males tend to be smaller than females, allowing conservation of energy to

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day. Hummingbirds digest their food rapidly due to their small size and high metabolism; a mean retention time less than an hour has been reported. Hummingbirds spend an average of 20% of their time feeding and 75–80% sitting and digesting.

3192:. The aforementioned California study found three species to consume invertebrates from 72 families in 15 orders, with flies alone occurring in over 90% of samples; the three species exhibited high dietary overlap, with little evidence for 2808:

Many other species of hummingbirds also produce sounds with their wings or tails while flying, hovering, or diving, including the wings of the calliope hummingbird, broad-tailed hummingbird, rufous hummingbird, Allen's hummingbird, and the

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unless the specific location has a large food supply throughout the year, particularly access to flower nectar. Other migration factors are seasonal fluctuation of food, climate, competition for resources, predators, and inherent signals.

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likely because it had to compete with long-billed hummingbirds having an advantage for nectar foraging from specialized flowers, consequently leading the bee hummingbird to more successfully compete for flower foraging against insects.

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While all hummingbirds depend on flower nectar to fuel their high metabolisms and hovering flight, coordinated changes in flower and bill shape stimulated the formation of new species of hummingbirds and plants. Due to this exceptional

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during forward flight, except for air movement generated by their rapid wing-beat, possibly aiding convective heat loss from the extended feet. Smaller hummingbird species, such as the calliope, appear to adapt their relatively higher

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Relatively few hummingbirds migrate as a percentage of the total number of species; of the roughly 366 known hummingbird species, only 12–15 species migrate annually, particularly those in North America. Most hummingbirds live in the

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have been recorded above 100 beats per second during courtship displays. The number of beats per second increases above "normal" hovering while flying during courtship displays (up to 90 per second for the calliope hummingbird,

1607:, are coevolved with a small number of flower species. Even in the most specialized hummingbird–plant mutualisms, the number of food plant lineages of the individual hummingbird species increases with time. The bee hummingbird ( 2647:

techniques to investigate the lift generated on the bird's upstroke and downstroke. The birds produced 75% of their weight support during the downstroke and 25% during the upstroke, with the wings making a "figure 8" motion.

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The bird can sing at the same frequency as the tail-feather chirp, but its small syrinx is not capable of the same volume. The sound is caused by the aerodynamics of rapid air flow past tail feathers, causing them to

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per lick at a rate of up to 20 licks per second. The tongue, which is forked, is compressed until it reaches nectar, then the tongue springs open, the rapid action traps the nectar which moves up the grooves, like a

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in rapid succession to discourage aggressive encounters, with the chirping rate and loudness increasing when intruders persist. During the breeding season, male and female hummingbirds vocalize as part of courtship.

413:, which flap at high frequencies audible to other birds and humans. They hover at rapid wing-flapping rates, which vary from around 12 beats per second in the largest species to 80 per second in small hummingbirds. 2412:. In the Pacific Northwest, the fastest growing populations occur in regions with breeding-season cold temperatures similar to those of its native range. Northward expansion of the Anna's hummingbird represents an 1825: 5974:

Dalsgaard, Bo; Martín González, Ana M.; Olesen, Jens M.; et al. (2009). "Plant-hummingbird interactions in the West Indies: Floral specialisation gradients associated with environment and hummingbird size".

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During evolution, hummingbirds adapted to the navigational needs of visual processing while in rapid flight or hovering by development of the exceptionally dense array of retinal neurons, allowing for increased

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Male hummingbirds do not take part in nesting. Most species build a cup-shaped nest on the branch of a tree or shrub. The nest varies in size relative to the particular species – from smaller than half a

3164:. Bill shape may play a role, as hummingbirds with longer or more curved bills may be unable to hawk efficiently, and so rely more heavily on gleaning spiders. Regardless of bill shape, spiders are a common 584:

with ridged inner surfaces to aid gripping onto flower stems or petals. Hummingbirds do not walk on the ground or hop like most birds, but rather shuffle laterally and use their feet to grip while perching,

7930: 1009:, but neither has yet been scientifically described, and fossils and subfossils of a few extant species are known. Until recently, older fossils had not been securely identifiable as those of hummingbirds. 2327:

Dozens of hummingbird species live year-round in tropical mountain habitats at high altitudes, such as in the Andes over ranges of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) to 5,200 metres (17,100 ft) where the

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upon taking flight, although the shortness of their legs provides about 20% less propulsion than assessed in other birds. During flight, hummingbird feet are tucked up under the body, enabling optimal

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86% of total feeding records were on nectar. It has been estimated, based on time budgets and other data, that the hummingbird diet is generally about 90% nectar and 10% arthropods by mass. As their

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than for other flower colors. Further, the crown plumage of firecrown males is highly iridescent in the red wavelength range (peak at 650 nanometers), possibly providing a competitive advantage of

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in pursuit of prey. At maximum descent speed, about 10 g of gravitational force occur in the courting hummingbird during a dive (Note: G-force is generated as the bird pulls out of the dive).

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that serves as an attachment point for external muscles, all of which are adaptations thought to be responsible for the hummingbird's increased ability in pitch control and large frequency range.

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Abrahamczyk, Stefan; Poretschkin, Constantin & Renner, Susanne S. (2017). "Evolutionary flexibility in five hummingbird/plant mutualistic systems: testing temporal and geographic matching".

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Hummingbirds have unusually 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

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A phylogenetic tree unequivocally indicates that modern hummingbirds originated in South America, with the last common ancestor of all living hummingbirds living around 22 million years ago.

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color, particularly in blues, greens, and purples. Hummingbirds are the smallest mature birds, measuring 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) in length. The smallest is the 5 cm (2.0 in)

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Prinzinger, R.; Schafer, T.; Schuchmann, K.L. (1992). "Energy metabolism, respiratory quotient and breathing parameters in two convergent small bird species : the fork-tailed sunbird

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The sexes differ in feather coloration, with males having distinct brilliance and ornamentation of head, neck, wing, and breast feathers. The most typical feather ornament in males is the

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Leimberger, K.G.; Dalsgaard, B.; Tobias, J.A.; Wolf, C.; Betts, M.G. (June 2022). "The evolution, ecology, and conservation of hummingbirds and their interactions with flowering plants".

2581: 986:. The topazes and jacobins combined have the oldest split with the rest of the hummingbirds. The hummingbird family has the third-greatest number of species of any bird family (after the 386:, adaptations to high altitude, sensitive visual and communication abilities, and long-distance migration in some species. Among all birds, male hummingbirds have the widest diversity of 5137: 3449:

was once thought to be a favorable ingredient for the nectar in home feeders, but it is unnecessary. Commercial products sold as "instant nectar" or "hummingbird food" may also contain

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In the wild, hummingbirds visit flowers for food, extracting nectar, which is 55% sucrose, 24% glucose, and 21% fructose on a dry-matter basis. Hummingbirds also take sugar-water from

2494:, those that survive may occasionally live a decade or more. Among the better-known North American species, the typical lifespan is probably 3 to 5 years. For comparison, the smaller 10260:

Feinsinger, Peter; Colwell, Robert K.; Terborgh, John; Chaplin, Susan Budd (1979). "Elevation and the Morphology, Flight Energetics, and Foraging Ecology of Tropical Hummingbirds".

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when foraging among other hummingbird species with less colorful plumage. The ability to discriminate colors of flowers and plumage is enabled by a visual system having four single

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Many plants pollinated by hummingbirds produce flowers in shades of red, orange, and bright pink, although the birds take nectar from flowers of other colors. Hummingbirds can see

3467:" for foraging. Hummingbirds depend little on visual cues of flower color to beacon to nectar-rich locations, but rather they use surrounding landmarks to find the nectar reward. 3046:; some of these are primarily insect-pollinated. Three Californian species were found to feed from 62 plant families in 30 orders, with the most frequently occurring orders being 2749:

and stroke plane angle and by varying these parameters asymmetrically between the wings and from one stroke to the next. They also vary the orientation and enlarge the collective

2243:

The high metabolic rate of hummingbirds – especially during rapid forward flight and hovering – produces increased body heat that requires specialized mechanisms of

2623:. Hummingbirds stay in the nest for 18–22 days, after which they leave the nest to forage on their own, although the mother bird may continue feeding them for another 25 days. 5417:"Phylogenetic systematics and biogeography of hummingbirds: Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of partitioned data and selection of an appropriate partitioning strategy" 8578:

Bakken, B.H.; Sabat, P. (2006). "Gastrointestinal and renal responses to water intake in the green-backed firecrown (Sephanoides sephanoides), a South American hummingbird".

2966:

are capable of extracting over 99% of the glucose from nectar feedings within minutes, owing to high densities of glucose transporters (the highest known among vertebrates).

2934: 834:, including the Caribbean. The majority of species occur in tropical and subtropical Central and South America, but several species also breed in temperate climates and some 2284:

function. During a day of nectar consumption with a corresponding high water intake that may total five times the body weight per day, hummingbird kidneys process water via

1826: 1184: 2901:

makes a one-way flight of about 18,000 kilometres (11,000 mi), or 51,430,000 body lengths, just 65% of the body displacement during migration by rufous hummingbirds.

2856:

Most North American hummingbirds migrate southward in fall to spend winter in Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, or Central America. A few species are year-round residents of

8135: 2039: 2860:, California, and the southwestern desert regions of the US. Among these are Anna's hummingbird, a common resident from southern Arizona and inland California, and the 6353:

Berns, Chelsea M.; Adams, Dean C. (11 November 2012). "Becoming Different But Staying Alike: Patterns of Sexual Size and Shape Dimorphism in Bills of Hummingbirds".

9686:"Museum-based research on the lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) infestations of hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae) – prevalence, genus richness, and parasite associations" 2356:

Anna's hummingbirds are the northernmost year-round residents of any hummingbird. Anna's hummingbirds were recorded in Alaska as early as 1971, and resident in the

1043:, and, because hummingbirds were assumed to have never occurred outside the Americas, were not recognized to be hummingbirds until Mayr took a closer look at them. 7934: 1599:

implies that morphological traits of hummingbirds, such as bill length, bill curvature, and body mass, are correlated with morphological traits of plants, such as

522:

colors and highly specialized feathers of many species (mainly in males) give some hummingbirds exotic common names, such as sun gem, fairy, woodstar, sapphire or

3505:

While hummingbirds rely primarily on vision and hearing to assess competition from bird and insect foragers near food sources, they may also be able to detect by

13482: 2336:

for the high metabolic demands of hummingbirds. In Andean hummingbirds living at high elevations, researchers found that the oxygen-carrying protein in blood –

2098:

may have independently evolved seven similar forebrain structures for singing and vocal learning, indicating that evolution of these structures is under strong

10807: 3678: 11785: 2122:

in elite human athletes. Hummingbirds achieve this extraordinary capacity for oxygen consumption by an exceptional density and proximity of capillaries and

618:– a bib-like iridescent neck-feather patch that changes brilliance with the viewing angle to attract females and warn male competitors away from territory. 5178: 649:

Hummingbird females build a nest resembling a small cup about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in diameter, commonly attached to a tree branch using spider webs,

12193:

Baldwin, Maude W.; Toda, Yasuka; Nakagita, Tomoya; O'Connell, Mary J.; Klasing, Kirk C.; Misaka, Takumi; Edwards, Scott V.; Liberles, Stephen D. (2014).

10756: 10671:

Clark, C. J.; Feo, T. J. (2010). "Why do Calypte hummingbirds "sing" with both their tail and their syrinx? An apparent example of sexual sensory bias".

6249:

Colwell, Robert K. (1 November 2000). "Rensch's Rule Crosses the Line: Convergent Allometry of Sexual Size Dimorphism in Hummingbirds and Flower Mites".

8411: 2105:

Generally, birds have been assessed to vocalize and hear in the range of 2–5 kHz, with hearing sensitivity falling with higher frequencies. In the

8778: 607:

Of those species that have been measured during flight, the top flight speeds of hummingbirds exceed 15 m/s (54 km/h; 34 mph). During

11742: 10012:

Tobalske, Bret W.; Warrick, Douglas R.; Clark, Christopher J.; Powers, Donald R.; Hedrick, Tyson L.; Hyder, Gabriel A.; Biewener, Andrew A. (2007).

2696:

hummingbirds shift their bodies and tails horizontally, beat their wings faster, and reduce their wings' angle of motion when flying in heavy rain.

2667:

was generated equally during the two phases of the wingbeat cycle, as is the case of insects of a similar size. This finding shows that hummingbird

1779:

hits these cells, it is split into wavelengths that reflect to the observer in varying degrees of intensity, with the feather structure acting as a

13780: 10165: 7957: 6164:

Junker, Robert R.; Blüthgen, Nico; Brehm, Tanja; Binkenstein, Julia; Paulus, Justina; Martin Schaefer, H. & Stang, Martina (13 December 2012).

2555: 2551: 552: 8862: 6197:

Martín González, Ana M.; Dalsgaard, Bo; et al. (30 July 2015). "The macroecology of phylogenetically structured hummingbird-plant networks".

2611:

lasts 14 to 23 days, depending on the species, ambient temperature, and female attentiveness to the nest. The mother feeds her nestlings on small

1783:. Iridescent hummingbird colors result from a combination of refraction and pigmentation, since the diffraction structures themselves are made of 1058:

during that time. The biggest remaining mystery at present is what happened to hummingbirds in the roughly 25 million years between the primitive

13685: 13329: 9171:

Hainsworth, F.R.; Wolf, L.L. (1970). "Regulation of oxygen consumption and body temperature during torpor in a hummingbird, Eulampis jugularis".

5459:

McGuire, Jimmy A.; Witt, Christopher C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr.; Dudley, R.; Altshuler, Douglas L. (2008). "A higher-level taxonomy for hummingbirds".

801:, Africa, and Australia — resemble hummingbirds in appearance and behavior, but are not related to hummingbirds, as their resemblance is due to 13785: 11383:"Analysis of the feeding habits of the swallow-tailed hummingbird, Eupetomena macroura (Gmelin, 1788), in an urban park in southeastern Brazil" 7657: 6710: 11247:"Hummingbird diversity, food niche characters, and assemblage composition along a latitudinal precipitation gradient in the Bolivian lowlands" 5152: 4577: 13711: 9837: 4120: 3782: 2567: 13302: 7730: 6509: 3349:

Drawing of a hummingbird tongue; 1874, unknown artist. Upon reaching nectar in a flower, the tongue splits into opposing tips fringed with

13526: 2880:, black-chinned, buff-bellied, calliope, Allen's, Anna's, ruby-throated, rufous, broad-tailed, and broad-billed hummingbirds are present. 13363: 12831: 5738:"Diversity and clade ages of West Indian hummingbirds and the largest plant clades dependent on them: a 5–9 Myr young mutualistic system" 3304:

have short, sharp beaks adapted for feeding from flowers with short corolla tubes and piercing the bases of longer ones. The beak of the

611:, some male species dive from 30 metres (100 ft) of height above a female at speeds around 23 m/s (83 km/h; 51 mph). 5012: 3375:

not involved. Consequently, tongue flexibility enables accessing, transporting and unloading nectar via pump action, not by a capillary

13790: 9406:"Influence of normal daytime fat deposition on laboratory measurements of torpor use in territorial versus nonterritorial hummingbirds" 9365:

Hiebert, S.M.; Salvante, K.G.; Ramenofsky, M.; Wingfield, J.C. (2000). "Corticosterone and nocturnal torpor in the rufous hummingbird (

1046:

Fossils of birds not clearly assignable to either hummingbirds or a related extinct family, the Jungornithidae, have been found at the

8675: 5099:. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. pp. 143, 264. 13437: 9149: 2251:

through exhaled air, and from body structures with thin or no feather covering, such as around the eyes, shoulders, under the wings (

2204:

and mitochondrial respiration in flight muscles are enhanced, enabling hummingbirds to metabolize sugar more efficiently for energy.

1603:

length, curvature, and volume. Some species, especially those with unusual bill shapes, such as the sword-billed hummingbird and the

11812: 13659: 13250: 8806:"Parallel molecular evolution in pathways, genes, and sites in high-elevation hummingbirds revealed by comparative transcriptomics" 6297:

Lisle, Stephen P. De; Rowe, Locke (1 November 2013). "Correlated Evolution of Allometry and Sexual Dimorphism across Higher Taxa".

2272:. In cold climates, hummingbirds retract their feet into breast feathers to eliminate skin exposure and minimize heat dissipation. 13019: 6411:"Evolution of sexual dimorphism in bill size and shape of hermit hummingbirds (Phaethornithinae): a role for ecological causation" 845:

is in humid tropical and subtropical forests of the northern Andes and adjacent foothills, but the number of species found in the

13698: 8950:

Beuchat, C.A.; Chaplin, S.B.; Morton, M.L. (1979). "Ambient temperature and the daily energetics of two species of hummingbirds,

8294:

Powers, Donald R.; Langland, Kathleen M.; Wethington, Susan M.; Powers, Sean D.; Graham, Catherine H.; Tobalske, Bret W. (2017).

1920:

per mm. The enlarged cornea relative to total eye diameter serves to increase the amount of light perception by the eye when the

6469: 6166:"Specialization on traits as basis for the niche-breadth of flower visitors and as structuring mechanism of ecological networks" 4781: 2813:

species, as well as the tail of the Costa's hummingbird and the black-chinned hummingbird, and a number of related species. The

9274:

Wolf, Blair O.; McKechnie, Andrew E.; Schmitt, C. Jonathan; Czenze, Zenon J.; Johnson, Andrew B.; Witt, Christopher C. (2020).

4942: 2247:

for heat dissipation, which becomes an even greater challenge in hot, humid climates. Hummingbirds dissipate heat partially by

2196:), coinciding with the onset of hovering by hummingbirds estimated by fossil evidence to be some 35 million years ago. Without 2180:

yield to support a high metabolic rate for hovering, foraging at altitude, and migrating. This adaptation occurred through the

12569:"Functional aspects of floral nectar secretion of Ananas ananassoides, an ornithophilous bromeliad from the Brazilian savanna" 8662:

Beuchat, C.A.; Preest, M.R.; Braun, E.J. (1999). "Glomerular and medullary architecture in the kidney of Anna's Hummingbird".

7626: 13312: 13258: 11822: 11795: 11203:"Behavioral, Ecological and Morphological Correlates of Foraging for Arthropods by the Hummingbirds of a Tropical Wet Forest" 10614:"Harmonic hopping, and both punctuated and gradual evolution of acoustic characters in Selasphorus hummingbird tail-feathers" 10175: 9489: 8236: 6519: 5518: 4683: 3275:

Coevolution of the sicklebill beak curve facilitates both nectar feeding and pollination of long tubular Centropogon flowers.

2292:. During brief periods of water deprivation, however, such as in nighttime torpor, GFR drops to zero, preserving body water. 2207:

By relying on newly ingested sugars to fuel flight, hummingbirds reserve their limited fat stores to sustain their overnight

13795: 13703: 12754: 9917: 9405: 2692:

higher altitudes, therefore, have larger wings to help offset these negative effects of low air density on lift generation.

2448:

slowing dramatically (heart rate of roughly 50 to 180 bpm from its daytime rate of higher than 1000 bpm). Recordings from a

2033:

long-billed hermits, and Andean hummingbirds have song dialects that vary across habitat locations and phylogenetic clades.

1646:. Hummingbird-pollinated flowers also produce relatively weak nectar (averaging 25% sugars) containing a high proportion of 7827:

Welch, K.C. Jr.; Chen, C.C. (2014). "Sugar flux through the flight muscles of hovering vertebrate nectarivores: A review".

13385: 13078:

Hornsby, Mark A.W.; Healy, Susan D.; Hurly, T. Andrew (2017). "Wild hummingbirds can use the geometry of a flower array".

5587:

Baldwin, M.W.; Toda, Y.; Nakagita, T.; O'Connell, M.J.; Klasing, K.C.; Misaka, T.; Edwards, S.V.; Liberles, S. D. (2014).

1548:

Within the same geographic region, hummingbird clades coevolved with nectar-bearing plant clades, affecting mechanisms of

6687: 3594: 1973: 1661:

Hummingbirds and the plants they visit for nectar have a tight coevolutionary association, generally called a plant–bird

12195:"Sensory biology. Evolution of sweet taste perception in hummingbirds by transformation of the ancestral umami receptor" 8252:

Lasiewski, Robert C. (1964). "Body temperatures, heart and breathing rate, and evaporative water loss in hummingbirds".

7555:

Jarvis, Erich D.; Ribeiro, Sidarta; da Silva, Maria Luisa; Ventura, Dora; Vielliard, Jacques; Mello, Claudio V. (2000).

3439:

is made by bees from the nectar of flowers, but it is not good to use in feeders because when it is diluted with water,

2719:

The highest recorded wingbeat rate for hummingbirds during hovering is 99.1 per second, as measured for male woodstars (

1992:

which is tuned to fast-pattern velocities, enabling highly tuned control and collision avoidance during forward flight.

1638:, but hummingbird-pollinated flowers do not reflect these wavelengths as many insect-pollinated flowers do. This narrow 12534: 10191:

Fernández, M.J.; Dudley, R.; Bozinovic, F. (2011). "Comparative energetics of the giant hummingbird (Patagona gigas)".

10055:"Study shows hovering hummingbirds generate two trails of vortices under their wings, challenging one-vortex consensus" 6077:

Altschuler, D. L. (2003). "Flower color, hummingbird pollination, and habitat irradiance in four Neotropical forests".

4968: 1066:, the decrease in size, and the dispersal to the Americas and extinction in Eurasia all occurred during this timespan. 3353:

and grooves, which fill with nectar, then retracts to a cylindrical configuration into the bill to complete the drink.

2428:

where it lives year-round through winter enduring extended periods of subfreezing temperatures, snow, and high winds.

12908: 12363: 11168: 10433:

Ravi, Sridhar; Crall, James D.; McNeilly, Lucas; Gagliardi, Susan F.; Biewener, Andrew A.; Combes, Stacey A. (2015).

9719:"Multivariate study of lice (Insecta: Psocodea: Phthiraptera) assemblages hosted by hummingbirds (Aves: Trochilidae)" 8524:"Hummingbirds arrest their kidneys at night: diel variation in glomerular filtration rate in Selasphorus platycercus" 6626:"How oscillating aerodynamic forces explain the timbre of the hummingbird's hum and other animals in flapping flight" 4980: 2078:(ability to acquire vocalizations through imitation), a rare trait known to occur in only two other groups of birds ( 825: 3324:, is absent in birds, receptor expression studies showed that hummingbirds adapted a carbohydrate receptor from the 3152:

Hummingbirds exhibit various feeding strategies and some morphological adaptations for insectivory. Typically, they

11661: 10811: 10054: 8437: 6877:"Neural specialization for hovering in hummingbirds: hypertrophy of the pretectal nucleus Lentiformis mesencephali" 6536: 4525: 4011:

Suarez, R.K. (1992). "Hummingbird flight: Sustaining the highest mass-specific metabolic rates among vertebrates".

3478:) – flower colors preferred are in the red-green wavelength for the bird's visual system, providing a higher 3120:

Though not as insectivorous as once believed, and far less so than most of their relatives and ancestors among the

11084:"Asynchronous changes in phenology of migrating broad-tailed hummingbirds and their early-season nectar resources" 9332: 9048:

Shankar, Anusha; Schroeder, Rebecca J.; Wethington, Susan M.; Graham, Catherine H.; Powers, Donald R. (May 2020).

2639:

Hummingbird flight has been studied intensively from an aerodynamic perspective using wind tunnels and high-speed

2417:

sizable percentage of Anna's hummingbirds in the Pacific Northwest still do migrate south for winter, as of 2017.

13716: 12681:"Resource defense and monopolization in a marked population of ruby-throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris)" 10915: 10333: 4876: 4383: 3634:

model that incorporates a pickguard in the shape of a hummingbird by Gibson Brands, a major guitar manufacturer.

1016:

identified two 30-million-year-old hummingbird fossils. The fossils of this primitive hummingbird species, named

255: 13483:"Connie Jiménez dressed as a hummingbird in the Miss Universe preliminary competition (translated from Spanish)" 11060: 7426:

Monte, Amanda; Cerwenka, Alexander F.; Ruthensteiner, Bernhard; Gahr, Manfred; Düring, Daniel N. (6 July 2020).

5868:"Morphological traits determine specialization and resource use in plant–hummingbird networks in the Neotropics" 3320:

from insectivorous swifts, their closest bird relatives. Although the only known sweet sensory receptor, called

657:-shaped white eggs (image) – the smallest of any bird – are incubated over 2–3 weeks in breeding season. Fed by 13770: 5211: 3715: 2146: 12806: 11288: 10781: 9454: 8478:

Suarez, R.K.; Gass, C.L. (2002). "Hummingbirds foraging and the relation between bioenergetics and behavior".

7428:"The hummingbird syrinx morphome: a detailed three-dimensional description of the black jacobin's vocal organ" 6876: 3850: 2307:

or none, indicating that kidney and glomerular structures must be highly specialized for variations in nectar

503: 13433: 10530:

Akparibo, Issaka Y.; Anderson, Jackie; Chumbley, Eric (7 September 2020). "Aerospace Gravitational Effects".

1806:

feathers than those fed a low-protein diet. Additionally, birds on a high-protein diet grew yellower (higher

1802:

was an influential factor in feather color, as birds receiving more protein grew significantly more colorful

1191:

Molecular phylogenetic studies determined the relationships between the major groups of hummingbirds. In the

5949: 3525: 3232:, a brain region facilitating spatial memory used to map flowers previously visited during nectar foraging. 545:

Hummingbirds have compact bodies with relatively long, bladelike wings having anatomical structure enabling

11432: 11083: 3292:

The extreme curved beaks of sicklebills are adapted for extracting nectar from the curved corolla tubes of

2974: 1912:, which comprise about 50% of the total transverse eye diameter, combined with an extraordinary density of 812:

has flying and feeding characteristics similar to those of a hummingbird. Hummingbirds may be mistaken for

31: 17: 13516: 11533: 3735:

By comparison to humans, this is a G-force acceleration well beyond the threshold of causing near loss of

1101:. Despite their current New World distribution, the earliest species of hummingbird occurred in the early 535:(2.4 in) long and weighing about 2 grams (0.071 oz) – is the world's smallest bird and smallest 13597: 13459: 12511: 2421: 1937: 1070:

results suggest that the main radiation of South American hummingbirds took place at least partly in the

875: 320: 9126: 9050:"Hummingbird torpor in context: duration, more than temperature, is the key to nighttime energy savings" 8995:"Diurnal variation in mass, metabolic rate, and respiratory quotient in Anna's and Costa's hummingbirds" 8296:"Hovering in the heat: effects of environmental temperature on heat regulation in foraging hummingbirds" 4124: 922:

As of 2023, 366 hummingbird species have been identified. They have been traditionally divided into two

906:, but some taxonomists have separated them into their own order, the Trochiliformes. Hummingbirds' wing 148: 13602: 12784: 12657: 10757:"Wing, tail, and vocal contributions to the complex acoustic signals of courting Calliope hummingbirds" 10397:"Wing, tail, and vocal contributions to the complex acoustic signals of courting Calliope hummingbirds" 5589:"Evolution of sweet taste perception in hummingbirds by transformation of the ancestral umami receptor" 3133: 2876:, returning to Mexico, South America, southern Texas, and Florida to winter. During winter in southern 2644: 2463: 1968:

in mammals) responsible for refining dynamic visual processing while hovering and during rapid flight.

1128:– shows rapid diversification from 22 million years ago. Hummingbirds fall into nine main clades – the 573: 382:

Hummingbirds have varied specialized characteristics to enable rapid, maneuverable flight: exceptional

13337: 9869:. Operation Rubythroat: The Hummingbird Project, Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History. 2014 7984:"Hummingbirds can fuel expensive hovering flight completely with either exogenous glucose or fructose" 9973:"Backward flight in hummingbirds employs unique kinematic adjustments and entails low metabolic cost" 8710:"Repeated elevational transitions in hemoglobin function during the evolution of Andean hummingbirds" 8351:

Evangelista, Dennis; Fernández, María José; Berns, Madalyn S.; Hoover, Aaron; Dudley, Robert (2010).

7316:"Ultrasonic singing by the blue-throated hummingbird: A comparison between production and perception" 5238:"Fossil evidence of wing shape in a stem relative of swifts and hummingbirds (Aves, Pan-Apodiformes)" 3387: 3362:

then close around the nectar, trapping it so it can be pulled back into the beak over a period of 14

3129: 2377: 2228: 2189: 1740: 1642:

may render hummingbird-pollinated flowers relatively inconspicuous to most insects, thereby reducing

1093:

Hummingbirds split from other members of Apodiformes, the insectivorous swifts (family Apodidae) and

1067: 694: 677: 658: 557: 12618:"Effect of artificial feeders on pollen loads of the hummingbirds of Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica" 11703: 11617: 11343:"DNA metabarcoding reveals broadly overlapping diets in three sympatric North American hummingbirds" 11202: 11038: 10943:

López-Segoviano, Gabriel; Arenas-Navarro, Maribel; Vega, Ernesto; Arizmendi, Maria del Coro (2018).

9643: 8708:

Projecto-Garcia, Joana; Natarajan, Chandrasekhar; Moriyama, Hideaki; et al. (2 December 2013).

7704: 5679:"The temporal build-up of hummingbird/plant mutualisms in North America and temperate South America" 2176:

hummingbirds have in their flight muscles a mechanism for "direct oxidation" of sugars into maximal

11289:"The foraging behaviour of Australian honeyeaters: a review and some comparisons with hummingbirds" 5236:

Ksepka, Daniel T.; Clarke, Julia A.; Nesbitt, Sterling J.; Kulp, Felicia B.; Grande, Lance (2013).

4817:"Winter range expansion of a hummingbird is associated with urbanization and supplementary feeding" 2861: 2499: 1553: 702: 565: 9841: 9222:

Hiebert, S.M. (1992). "Time-dependent thresholds for torpor initiation in the rufous hummingbird (

9096: 8994: 2558:, are specialized on them, often infesting 5–15% of their populations. In contrast, two genera of 394:, which weighs less than 2.0 g (0.07 oz), and the largest is the 23 cm (9 in) 13775: 8804:

Lim, Marisa C.W.; Witt, Christopher C.; Graham, Catherine H.; Dávalos, Liliana M. (22 May 2019).

6992: 5386: 5059: 4755: 3252: 3073: 2264: 1171: 881: 737: 228: 11947:"Floral phenology of an Andean bellflower and pollination by buff-tailed sicklebill hummingbird" 10078:"Hummingbirds generate bilateral vortex loops during hovering: evidence from flow visualization" 8162:"Loss of a gluconeogenic muscle enzyme contributed to adaptive metabolic traits in hummingbirds" 3065: 2897:

make the return journey in the following spring. By comparison, the 13 inches (33 cm)-long

1494:

pattern, as many as 140 hummingbird species can coexist in a specific region, such as the Andes

13742: 13537: 11005: 10945:"Hummingbird migration and flowering synchrony in the temperate forests of northwestern Mexico" 9662: 5818:"Geographical aspects of bird flower coevolution, with particular reference to Central America" 5817: 4554: 3471: 3350: 2177: 2063: 2008: 1542: 714: 710: 13244: 13204:"What is that smell? Hummingbirds avoid foraging on resources with defensive insect compounds" 11741:

Céspedes, Laura N.; Pavan, Lucas I.; Hazlehurst, Jenny A.; Jankowski, Jill E. (9 April 2019).

11246: 10716:"Hummingbird feather sounds are produced by aeroelastic flutter, not vortex-induced vibration" 10077: 10076:

Pournazeri, Sam; Segre, Paolo S.; Princevac, Marko; Altshuler, Douglas L. (25 December 2012).

7283: 4161:

McGuire, J.; Witt, C.; Remsen, J.V.; Corl, A.; Rabosky, D.; Altshuler, D.; Dudley, R. (2014).

2745:

at a feeder. When wind gusts from the side, hummingbirds compensate by increasing wing-stroke

2616: 2466:

declines, preserving needed compounds, such as glucose, water, and nutrients. The circulating

2094:). Within the past 66 million years, only hummingbirds, parrots, and songbirds out of 23 bird 1174:

studies of the hummingbirds have shown that the family is composed of nine major clades. When

642:

Hummingbirds begin mating when they are a year old. Sex occurs over 3–5 seconds when the male

424:

animal. To conserve energy when food is scarce and at night when not foraging, they can enter

13765: 13737: 13690: 13575: 11342: 11082:

McKinney, A.M.; Caradonna, P.J.; Inouye, D.W.; Barr, B; Bertelsen, C.D.; Waser, N.M. (2012).

9505: 8136:"Evolution Turns These Knobs to Make a Hummingbird Hyperquick and a Cavefish Sluggishly Slow" 6116:"Nectar as food for birds: the physiological consequences of drinking dilute sugar solutions" 5027: 4782:"These tiny creatures are losing their battle to survive. Here's what we can do to save them" 4071:"Adipose energy stores, physical work, and the metabolic syndrome: Lessons from hummingbirds" 3668: 3210: 2893: 2341: 2211:

during torpor or to power migratory flights. Studies of hummingbird metabolism address how a

2052: 1913: 1854:. The humming sound of hummingbirds is unique among flying animals, compared to the whine of 1831: 1764: 1732: 1650:, whereas insect-pollinated flowers typically produce more concentrated nectars dominated by 1580: 951: 813: 725: 698: 376: 125: 13729: 12166: 10365: 9840:. Public Broadcasting System – Nature; from Learner.org, Journey North. 2016. Archived from 6688:"New measurement technique unravels what gives hummingbird wings their characteristic sound" 5513:. Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. pp. 105–136. 3881:

English, Simon G.; Bishop, Christine A.; Wilson, Scott; Smith, Adam C. (15 September 2021).

3062:. A hummingbird may have to visit one or two thousand flowers daily to meet energy demands. 1897:

Although hummingbird eyes are small in diameter (5–6 mm), they are accommodated in the

1576: 684:

ruby-throated hummingbird lived for 9 years and 2 months. Bee hummingbirds live 7–10 years.

13623: 13584: 13411: 12692: 12461: 12206: 12120: 11958: 11851: 11488: 11300: 11098: 10840:"Roles of the Wing Whistle in the Territorial Behaviour of Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds ( 10625: 9929: 9180: 8721: 8173: 7995: 7883: 7781: 7672: 7568: 7498: 7379: 7167: 7108: 7034: 6945: 6771: 6206: 6127: 5984: 5914: 5879: 5769:"Escape from extreme specialization: Passionflowers, bats and the sword-billed hummingbird" 5690: 5600: 5506: 4915: 4728: 4279: 4224: 4174: 3894: 3612: 3483: 3305: 2962:

flight of all birds, a necessity for rapidly visiting many flowers without perching. Their

2668: 2409: 1944: 1560:), one of the morphologically most extreme species, and one of its main food plant clades ( 1179: 934:, all the others). Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown, though, that the hermits are 927: 802: 706: 668: 626: 454:

has one of the longest migrations among birds, traveling twice per year between Alaska and

417: 293: 12736: 12060:"Shifting paradigms in the mechanics of nectar extraction and hummingbird bill morphology" 7872:"Fuel selection in rufous hummingbirds: ecological implications of metabolic biochemistry" 6934:"Neurons responsive to global visual motion have unique tuning properties in hummingbirds" 6115: 5552: 5536:"DNA hybridization evidence for the principal lineages of hummingbirds (Aves:Trochilidae)" 5535: 5045: 5023: 4997: 4467: 3300:

spp.), have long beaks that enable insertion deeply into flowers with long corolla tubes.

3260: 2981:

species have evolved to be pollinated exclusively by hummingbirds, even barring access to

2396:

over the 1960s to 1970s. This rapid expansion is attributed to the widespread planting of

2280:

The dynamic range of metabolic rates in hummingbirds requires a parallel dynamic range in

1775:

cells within the top layers of feathers of the head, gorget, breast, back and wings. When

634: 589:

feathers, or nest-building (by females), and during fights to grab feathers of opponents.

8: 6477: 5735: 5502: 4495: 3744: 3616: 3590: 3564:

is often depicted in art as a hummingbird. Aztecs believed that fallen warriors would be

3357:

Hummingbirds drink with their long tongues by rapidly lapping nectar. Their tongues have

3205:

been documented for some species; insects comprised 3% of foraging attempts for Peruvian

2947: 2849: 2348:

within the hemoglobin molecule via specific amino acid changes due to natural selection.

2106: 1847: 1780: 1703: 1662: 1175: 939: 816:, which are large, flying insects with hovering capabilities, and exist only in Eurasia. 136: 12696: 12465: 12210: 12124: 11962: 11855: 11492: 11304: 11102: 10629: 10307: 9933: 9745: 9718: 9457:. Rocky Point Bird Observatory, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 2010. Archived from 9184: 9049: 8725: 8177: 7999: 7887: 7785: 7676: 7572: 7502: 7383: 7171: 7112: 7038: 6949: 6775: 6210: 6131: 5988: 5918: 5883: 5694: 5604: 4919: 4283: 4228: 4178: 3898: 3533: 2311:

quality. Morphological studies on Anna's hummingbird kidneys showed adaptations of high

838:

occur even in alpine Andean highlands at altitudes up to 5,200 m (17,100 ft).

643: 13184: 13121: 13060: 13000: 12713: 12680: 12593: 12568: 12484: 12449: 12425: 12400: 12332: 12299: 12227: 12194: 12143: 12108: 12084: 12059: 12040: 11979: 11946: 11919: 11894: 11875: 11766: 11723: 11684: 11637: 11591: 11553: 11514: 11452: 11312: 11266: 11222: 10971: 10944: 10863: 10696: 10648: 10613: 10586: 10561: 10507: 10482: 10285: 10216: 10105: 9953: 9889: 9624: 9433: 9308: 9275: 9251: 9204: 9077: 9025: 9017: 8975: 8932: 8838: 8805: 8752: 8709: 8687: 8613: 8460: 8392: 8328: 8295: 8269: 8205: 8108: 8073: 7852: 7696: 7638: 7589: 7556: 7527: 7486: 7467: 7405: 7343: 7265: 7198: 7155: 7131: 7096: 7065: 7022: 6971: 6907: 6800: 6759: 6660: 6625: 6624:

Hightower, Ben J.; Wijnings, Patrick W.A.; Scholte, Rick; et al. (16 March 2021).

6594: 6565: 6443: 6410: 6378: 6322: 6274: 6143: 6096: 6008: 5930: 5848: 5840: 5793: 5768: 5713: 5678: 5621: 5588: 5484: 5361: 5314: 5287:"New specimens of the early Oligocene Old World hummingbird Eurotrochilus inexpectatus" 5262: 5237: 5203: 5079: 4849: 4816: 4703: 4651: 4626: 4607: 4364: 4315: 4248: 4097: 4070: 4036: 3985: 3960: 3923: 3882: 3853:. International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. 2024 3638: 3627: 3602: 3538: 3491: 3317: 3308:

has an upturned tip adapted for feeding on nectar from tubular flowers while hovering.

3193: 2413: 2385: 2308: 2289: 2071: 1933: 1851: 1517: 895: 741: 733: 729: 451: 372: 143: 10859: 9527: 8491: 8161: 6054: 6027: 5064:"Observations on the natural affinities that connect the orders and families of birds" 3778: 13724: 13651: 13610: 13308: 13254: 13243:

Werness, Hope B.; Benedict, Joanne H.; Thomas, Scott; Ramsay-Lozano, Tiffany (2004).

13225: 13176: 13113: 13105: 13052: 12992: 12904: 12718: 12639: 12598: 12542: 12489: 12430: 12371: 12337: 12319: 12273: 12232: 12148: 12089: 12044: 12032: 11984: 11924: 11867: 11818: 11791: 11506: 11404: 11164: 11114: 10976: 10892: 10737: 10688: 10653: 10591: 10537: 10512: 10483:"Courtship dives of Anna's hummingbird offer insights into flight performance limits" 10456: 10277: 10208: 10171: 10146: 10109: 10097: 10035: 9994: 9945: 9866: 9812: 9750: 9616: 9485: 9425: 9386: 9340: 9313: 9295: 9243: 9196: 9081: 9069: 8936: 8924: 8916: 8843: 8825: 8757: 8739: 8679: 8648: 8631:

Lotz, Chris N.; Martínez Del Rio, Carlos (2004). "The ability of rufous hummingbirds

8605: 8555: 8495: 8384: 8376: 8333: 8315: 8232: 8225: 8209: 8197: 8189: 8113: 8095: 8054: 7911: 7906: 7871: 7844: 7809: 7804: 7769: 7750: 7688: 7630: 7594: 7532: 7514: 7471: 7459: 7397: 7335: 7269: 7257: 7203: 7185: 7136: 7070: 7052: 6963: 6899: 6857: 6805: 6787: 6740: 6732: 6665: 6647: 6599: 6515: 6448: 6430: 6370: 6314: 6266: 6059: 6000: 5867: 5798: 5718: 5626: 5557: 5514: 5476: 5438: 5387:"Hummingbirds' 22-million-year-old history of remarkable change is far from complete" 5353: 5306: 5267: 4976: 4927: 4854: 4836: 4679: 4656: 4599: 4356: 4307: 4240: 4192: 4102: 4028: 3990: 3928: 3910: 3823: 3479: 3082: 2631: 2531: 2357: 2333: 2329: 2220:

single flight is similar to that used by a human climbing about 50 feet (15 m).

2181: 1989: 1843: 1835: 1525: 1502: 1085:

was found to be a predecessor to hummingbirds and swifts before the groups diverged.

987: 967: 608: 409:

They are known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating

395: 13589: 13125: 13064: 13020:"Wild hummingbirds rely on landmarks not geometry when learning an array of flowers" 11770: 11557: 11456: 11399: 11382: 11270: 10867: 10700: 10536:. National Center for Biotechnology Information, US National Institute of Medicine. 10289: 10220: 9797: 9776: 9628: 9255: 9208: 9029: 8979: 8691: 8396: 8352: 8273: 7856: 7767: 7656:

Renne, Paul R.; Deino, Alan L.; Hilgen, Frederik J.; et al. (7 February 2013).

7642: 7409: 6975: 6911: 6326: 6147: 6100: 6012: 5934: 5852: 5365: 5318: 4611: 4368: 4040: 3196:. This suggests that prey availability is not a limiting resource for hummingbirds. 3144:

Among the commonest invertebrate food items of hummingbirds are flies, particularly

2943: 717:

are around 2 million each. Several species exist only in the thousands or hundreds.

680:

is estimated to be 3–5 years, with most deaths occurring in yearlings, although one

638:

Each approximately the size of a pea, two eggs in the nest of an Allen's hummingbird

491: 13279: 13215: 13188: 13166: 13158: 13095: 13087: 13042: 13034: 13004: 12984: 12927: 12708: 12700: 12629: 12588: 12580: 12479: 12469: 12420: 12412: 12327: 12311: 12263: 12222: 12214: 12138: 12128: 12079: 12071: 12022: 12014: 11974: 11966: 11914: 11906: 11879: 11859: 11758: 11715: 11676: 11629: 11545: 11518: 11496: 11448: 11444: 11394: 11354: 11308: 11258: 11214: 11106: 10966: 10956: 10855: 10771: 10727: 10680: 10643: 10633: 10581: 10573: 10562:"The Anna's hummingbird chirps with its tail: A new mechanism of sonation in birds" 10502: 10494: 10446: 10408: 10377: 10269: 10200: 10136: 10123:

Tobalske, B.W.; Biewener, A.A.; Warrick, D.R.; Hedrick, T.L.; Powers, D.R. (2010).

10089: 10025: 9984: 9957: 9937: 9802: 9792: 9740: 9730: 9697: 9608: 9437: 9417: 9378: 9303: 9287: 9235: 9188: 9108: 9061: 9013: 9009: 8971: 8967: 8906: 8833: 8817: 8747: 8729: 8671: 8644: 8617: 8595: 8587: 8545: 8535: 8487: 8452: 8368: 8323: 8307: 8265: 8261: 8181: 8103: 8085: 8044: 8003: 7901: 7891: 7836: 7799: 7789: 7742: 7700: 7680: 7622: 7584: 7576: 7522: 7506: 7449: 7439: 7387: 7347: 7327: 7315: 7247: 7193: 7175: 7126: 7116: 7060: 7042: 6953: 6891: 6847: 6795: 6779: 6722: 6655: 6637: 6589: 6581: 6438: 6422: 6362: 6306: 6278: 6258: 6222: 6214: 6177: 6135: 6088: 6049: 6039: 5992: 5922: 5887: 5832: 5788: 5780: 5749: 5708: 5698: 5657: 5616: 5608: 5547: 5488: 5468: 5428: 5345: 5334:"An Old World hummingbird from the Oligocene: a new fossil from Polish Carpathians" 5298: 5257: 5249: 5195: 5100: 5075: 4966:

Genus Oreotrochilus. In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, & J. Sargatal. eds. (1999).

4923: 4844: 4828: 4646: 4638: 4589: 4346: 4319: 4297: 4287: 4252: 4232: 4182: 4092: 4082: 4020: 3980: 3972: 3918: 3902: 3620: 3432: 3372: 2986: 2782: 2676: 2450: 2444:

in a Caribbean hummingbird was shown to fall from 40 to 18 °C, with heart and

2441: 2389: 2244: 2232: 2161: 2150: 1905:, and occupy a larger proportion of the skull compared to other birds and animals. 1874: 1870: 1724: 1712: 1623: 1242: 1196: 1133: 842: 831: 360: 345: 12949: 11840:"Digestive physiology is a determinant of foraging bout frequency in hummingbirds" 11359: 6829: 6382: 5646:"Bills as daggers? A test for sexually dimorphic weapons in a lekking hummingbird" 5063: 3345: 2959: 2742: 2227:

of hummingbirds can reach as high as 1,260 beats per minute, a rate measured in a

13615: 13091: 12838: 12762: 11618:"Feeding Ecology of Hummingbirds in the Highlands of the Chisos Mountains, Texas" 10638: 10303: 9192: 7235: 7180: 7020: 6831: 6044: 5094: 3631: 3561: 3206: 3153: 2873: 2869: 2160:. To sustain rapid wingbeats during flight and hovering, hummingbirds expend the 2157: 2095: 1803: 1751: 1188:

for the 4th edition in 2013, they divided the hummingbirds into six subfamilies.

1165: 846: 515: 391: 364: 11838:

Diamond, Jared M.; Karasov, William H.; Phan, Duong; Carpenter, F. Lynn (1986).

9684:

Oniki-Willis, Yoshika; Willis, Edwin O; Lopes, Leonardo E; Rozsa, Lajos (2023).

8895:"Ecological release of the Anna's hummingbird during a northern range expansion" 8160:

Osipova, Ekaterina; Barsacchi, Rico; Brown, Tom; et al. (13 January 2023).

7156:"Acoustic divergence with gene flow in a lekking hummingbird with complex songs" 6415:

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences

4428: 3961:"Hummingbird plumage color diversity exceeds the known gamut of all other birds" 1791:

pigmentation and more subdued black, brown or gray colors dependent on melanin.

13389: 13220: 13203: 12113:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

10531: 8714:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

8591: 7876:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

7774:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

7557:"Behaviourally driven gene expression reveals song nuclei in hummingbird brain" 7510: 7454: 7444: 7427: 5950:"Absurd Creature of the Week: The World's Tiniest Bird Weighs Less Than a Dime" 5866:

Maglianesi, M.A.; Blüthgen, N.; Böhning-Gaese, K. & Schleuning, M. (2014).

3976: 3906: 2905: 2798: 2620: 2608: 2471: 2445: 2408:, in combination with the species' natural tendency for extensive postbreeding 2285: 2216: 2212: 2075: 1953: 1866: 1772: 1643: 1639: 1619: 1506: 1495: 955: 777: 447: 433: 410: 13362:. National Library of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain. 2016. Archived from 13162: 13038: 12988: 11945:

Boehm, M.M.A.; Guevara-Apaza, D.; Jankowski, J.E.; Cronk, Q.C.B. (July 2022).

11341:

Spence, Austin R; Wilson Rankin, Erin E; Tingley, Morgan W (3 December 2021).

11262: 10839: 10776: 10413: 10396: 10093: 9735: 7840: 7392: 7367: 7365: 7331: 6958: 6933: 6760:"Morphological adaptations for relatively larger brains in hummingbird skulls" 6366: 6139: 5996: 5703: 5472: 5433: 5416: 5349: 5302: 5046:"Species lists of birds for South American countries and territories: Ecuador" 4351: 4334: 4292: 4267: 4187: 4162: 1885: 1865:

The wingbeats causing the hum of hummingbirds during hovering are achieved by

1690: 759: 569: 13759: 13521: 13229: 13109: 12546: 12375: 12323: 12298:

Rico-Guevara, Alejandro; Fan, Tai-Hsi; Rubega, Margaret A. (22 August 2015).

12268: 12251: 10381: 10281: 10101: 9620: 9344: 9299: 9276:"Extreme and variable torpor among high-elevation Andean hummingbird species" 9073: 8920: 8829: 8743: 8412:"Infrared video shows how hummingbirds shed heat through their eyes and feet" 8380: 8319: 8193: 8099: 7518: 7463: 7189: 7056: 6791: 6736: 6651: 6566:"Dietary protein level affects iridescent coloration in Anna's hummingbirds, 6434: 6374: 5480: 5357: 5310: 5186: 4840: 4360: 4123:. Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Archived from 3914: 3740: 3736: 3663: 3565: 3446: 3440: 3094: 3090: 2955: 2758: 2680: 2123: 1981: 1388: 1149: 1018: 983: 722:

International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species

721: 615: 475: 368: 282: 251: 83: 12634: 12617: 12474: 12218: 12133: 10334:"Hummingbird rain trick: New study shows tiny birds alter posture in storms" 9530:. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Bird Banding Laboratory. 31 August 2009 9107:. The Birds of North America, Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology. 8734: 8185: 8008: 7983: 7896: 7794: 7746: 7731:"The ecological and evolutionary interface of hummingbird flight physiology" 7684: 7290:. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 2015 7121: 7047: 6182: 6165: 5662: 5645: 5612: 5333: 5286: 4998:"Species lists of birds for South American countries and territories: Chile" 4236: 4215:

Mayr, Gerald (2004). "Old World fossil record of modern-type hummingbirds".

3382: 3245: 2985:

pollinators. In some plants these mechanisms, which include highly modified

1678: 13560: 13180: 13117: 13056: 12996: 12722: 12643: 12602: 12493: 12434: 12416: 12341: 12315: 12277: 12236: 12152: 12093: 12036: 12027: 11988: 11928: 11910: 11839: 11549: 11510: 11408: 11118: 10980: 10741: 10692: 10657: 10595: 10577: 10541: 10516: 10498: 10460: 10212: 10150: 10039: 9998: 9949: 9816: 9754: 9429: 9390: 9382: 9317: 9291: 8928: 8865:. Department of Communication and Marketing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 8847: 8761: 8683: 8609: 8559: 8499: 8388: 8337: 8201: 8117: 8058: 7848: 7754: 7692: 7634: 7598: 7536: 7401: 7339: 7261: 7207: 7140: 7074: 6967: 6903: 6861: 6809: 6744: 6669: 6603: 6452: 6426: 6318: 6270: 6063: 6004: 5802: 5784: 5722: 5630: 5442: 5271: 5253: 5179:"DNA-DNA hybridization evidence for subfamily structure among hummingbirds" 4858: 4832: 4660: 4642: 4603: 4311: 4244: 4196: 4106: 4087: 3994: 3932: 3707: 3642: 3450: 3301: 3173: 3145: 2810: 2750: 2725: 2664: 2640: 2405: 2134: 1940: 1902: 1846:

generated by the downstrokes and upstrokes of the rapid wingbeats, causing

1592: 1307: 1226: 1141: 1129: 943: 935: 903: 681: 601: 536: 466: 462: 421: 288: 13388:. Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain. 2015. Archived from 11871: 10942: 9247: 9200: 7915: 7813: 5561: 4576:

Tobalske, Bret W.; Altshuler, Douglas L.; Powers, Donald R. (March 2004).

4032: 3128:. Observations of seasonal, near-exclusive insectivory have been made for 1124:

A map of the hummingbird family tree – reconstructed from analysis of 284

13672: 13569: 12584: 12567:

Stahl, J.M.; Nepi, M.; Galetto, L.; Guimarães, E.; Machado, S.R. (2012).

12075: 8821: 8676:

10.1002/(sici)1097-4687(199905)240:2<95::aid-jmor1>3.0.co;2-u

7870:

Suarez, R.K.; Lighton, J.R.; Moyes, C.D.; et al. (1 December 1990).

7658:"Time Scales of Critical Events Around the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary" 6932:

Gaede, A.H.; Goller, B.; Lam, J.P.; Wylie, D.R.; Altshuler, D.L. (2017).

6758:

Ocampo, Diego; Barrantes, Gilbert; Uy, J. Albert C. (27 September 2018).

6511:

A Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America. Section: Plumage and Molt

5865: 3883:"Current contrasting population trends among North American hummingbirds" 3748: 3608: 3584: 3510: 3494: 3424: 3412: 3403: 3363: 3266: 3229: 3177: 3114: 3006: 2898: 2865: 2827: 2738: 2651: 2603: 2559: 2518:

have been observed as predators of hummingbirds. Other predators include

2479: 2459: 2296: 2248: 2099: 1977: 1964: 1948: 1635: 1596: 1588: 1549: 1404: 1368: 1355: 1153: 1013: 998: 975: 931: 899: 830:

Hummingbirds are restricted to the Americas from south central Alaska to

519: 429: 403: 313: 308: 263: 213: 58: 13171: 10435:"Hummingbird flight stability and control in freestream turbulent winds" 9941: 9021: 8600: 8522:

Bakken, B.H.; McWhorter, T.J.; Tsahar, E.; Martinez del Rio, C. (2004).

8311: 7768:

Suarez R.K.; Lighton J.R.; Brown G.S.; Mathieu-Costello O. (June 1991).

6642: 6563: 6227: 5736:

Abrahamczyk, S.; Souto-Vilarós, D.; McGuire, J.A.; Renner, S.S. (2015).

3645:, Connie Jiménez, wore a costume inspired by hummingbird wing feathers. 3593:, known as "The land of the hummingbird", displays a hummingbird on its 3140: 3117:" refers to the consumption of any arthropod, not exclusively insects). 2295:

Hummingbird kidneys also have a unique ability to control the levels of

2168:

per day, an amount estimated to be 10 times the energy consumption by a

1074:, some 12 to 13 million years ago, during the uplifting of the northern 499:(bee hummingbird) – the world's smallest bird – compared to a human hand 13527:

Video of hummingbird tongue acting as a micropump during nectar feeding

13513:

Hummingbird photos, videos, articles, links, frequently asked questions

13100: 12855: 12810: 11727: 11688: 11641: 11595: 11226: 10961: 10732: 10715: 10451: 10434: 10141: 10124: 10030: 10013: 9989: 9972: 9807: 9239: 8464: 8049: 8024: 7958:"Hummingbird metabolism unique in burning glucose and fructose equally" 7021:

Stoddard, M.C.; Eyster, H.N.; Hogan, B.G.; et al. (15 June 2020).

6727: 6585: 6409:

Temeles, Ethan J.; Miller, Jill S.; Rifkin, Joanna L. (12 April 2010).

6079: 5844: 5207: 4302: 4024: 3358: 3316:

Perception of sweetness in nectar evolved in hummingbirds during their

3225: 3125: 3102: 3018: 3000: 2970: 2963: 2741:, hummingbirds exhibit stable head positions and orientation when they 2671:

is similar to, but distinct from, that of hovering insects such as the

2535: 2401: 2337: 2269: 2259: 2224: 2201: 2142: 2138: 2029: 2016: 1788: 1631: 1529: 1505:

shows that one key evolutionary factor appears to have been an altered

1429: 1274: 1157: 1137: 1063: 1047: 1036: 891: 753: 546: 539: 383: 298: 237: 103: 68: 13047: 12018: 11970: 11579: 11110: 9702: 9685: 9549:

Fisher, R. Jr. (1994). "Praying mantis catches and eats hummingbird".

9065: 8949: 8550: 8540: 8523: 8090: 7252: 6895: 6852: 6783: 6218: 5973: 5926: 5891: 5753: 4594: 3779:"IOC World Bird List (v 13.2), International Ornithological Committee" 3089:

Although a high-quality source of energy, nectar is deficient in many

2817:

of sounds during courtship dives vary across species of hummingbirds.

473:, around 42 million years ago. The oldest known fossil hummingbird is 13636: 12877: 12704: 11863: 9612: 8707: 8521: 8438:"The role of the feet in behavioral thermoregulation of hummingbirds" 7627:

10.1002/1096-9861(20001016)426:2<182::AID-CNE2>3.0.CO;2-M

7580: 7366:

Duque, F.G.; Rodríguez-Saltos, C.A.; Wilczynsk, W. (September 2018).

4758:. All About Birds, Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology. 2023 4470:. Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. 2023 3685: 3552: 3514: 3506: 3487: 3201: 3189: 3161: 3121: 3024: 2990: 2978: 2946:: The apparent slow movement of hummingbird wings is a result of the 2877: 2802: 2746: 2672: 2643:. Two studies of rufous or Anna's hummingbirds in a wind tunnel used 2612: 2547: 2523: 2373: 2312: 2288:(GFR) in amounts proportional to water consumption, thereby avoiding 2215:

ruby-throated hummingbird can cross 800 km (500 mi) of the

2067: 1951:– relatively the largest in any bird – exists in a region called the 1925: 1604: 1491: 1294: 1192: 1102: 1094: 1028: 979: 963: 959: 930:(subfamily Phaethornithinae) and the typical hummingbirds (subfamily 923: 886: 794: 773: 470: 303: 245: 203: 160: 108: 52: 13677: 13664: 13531: 12971:

Hurly, T.A.; Franz, S; Healy, S.D. (2010). "Do rufous hummingbirds (

12807:"Hummingbird F.A.Q.s from the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory" 11719: 11680: 11633: 11501: 11476: 11218: 11161:

Handbook of the Birds of the World Vol. 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbirds

10235: 10052: 9112: 8863:"New study reveals how hummingbirds evolved to fly at high altitude" 8661: 8456: 5836: 5199: 5177:

Bleiweiss, Robert; Kirsch, John A. W.; Matheus, Juan Carlos (1999).

5104: 1755:

Male Anna's hummingbird showing iridescent crown and gorget feathers

13641: 13554: 11704:"Energetics and Water Balance in Free-Living Tropical Hummingbirds" 10684: 10273: 10204: 9458: 9421: 8911: 8894: 8372: 8025:"Oxidation rate and turnover of ingested sugar in hovering Anna's ( 7097:"Hummingbirds control hovering flight by stabilizing visual motion" 6476:. Annenberg Learner, The Annenberg Foundation. 2015. Archived from 6310: 6262: 5737: 5511:

The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World

3428: 3214: 3055: 3030: 2845: 2814: 2754: 2563: 2491: 2345: 2304: 2252: 2169: 2083: 1957: 1855: 1776: 1651: 1612: 1323: 1145: 1106: 1051: 1032: 859: 835: 586: 480: 341: 180: 98: 93: 78: 73: 63: 46: 13242: 11762: 9916:

Warrick, Douglas R.; Tobalske, Bret W.; Powers, Donald R. (2005).

9364: 7487:"The vocal organ of hummingbirds shows convergence with songbirds" 6685: 6092: 5568: 4335:"Downsized dinosaurs: The evolutionary transition to modern birds" 3072:

species are popular nectar sources for many hummingbirds; here, a

2344:, and that this adaptive effect likely resulted from evolutionary 2258:

While hovering, hummingbirds do not benefit from the heat loss by

1723:

competitively and participate more frequently in courtship. Thus,

653:, moss, and loose strings of plant fibers (image). Typically, two 13202:

Kim, Ashley Y.; Rankin, David T.; Rankin, Erin E. Wilson (2021).

11477:"Feeding mechanisms: Hummingbird jaw bends to aid insect capture" 10075: 8353:"Hovering energetics and thermal balance in Anna's hummingbirds ( 6830:

Lisney, T.J.; Wylie, D.R.; Kolominsky, J.; Iwaniuk, A.N. (2015).

6623: 5415:

McGuire, J.A.; Witt, C.C.; Altshuler, D.L.; Remsen, J.V. (2007).

4163:"Molecular phylogenetics and the diversification of hummingbirds" 3569: 3557: 3286: 3110: 3106: 3059: 3051: 3047: 3042: 2857: 2546:

Hummingbirds host a highly specialized lice fauna. Two genera of

2467: 2425: 2393: 2316: 2208: 2165: 2087: 2056: 1799: 1784: 1768: 1655: 1647: 1125: 1109:

about 34–28 million years ago) of Europe, belonging to the genus

1098: 1082: 1071: 1040: 1006: 991: 880:

The family Trochilidae was introduced in 1825 by Irish zoologist

863: 809: 798: 790: 646:

with the female's, passing sperm to fertilize the female's eggs.

387: 113: 88: 13510: 12192: 12058:

Rico-Guevara, A.; Rubega, M.A.; Hurme, K.J.; Dudley, R. (2019).

11944: 11740: 10259: 9047: 7154:

González, Clementina; Ornelas, Juan Francisco (1 October 2014).

5586: 4815:

Greig, Emma I.; Wood, Eric M.; Bonter, David N. (5 April 2017).

3824:"Hummingbirds of the United States: A Photo List of All Species" 2904:

The northward migration of rufous hummingbirds occurs along the

2737:

During turbulent airflow conditions created experimentally in a

1735:

thus favors the larger hummingbirds in terms of acquiring food.

1097:(family Hemiprocnidae), about 42 million years ago, probably in 9333:"These hummingbirds take extreme naps. Some may even hibernate" 8350: 8159: 5643: 4627:"Flight costs of long, sexually selected tails in hummingbirds" 3958: 3598: 3548: 3544: 3464: 3376: 3329: 3325: 3321: 3213:

has been reported to spend <1% of time consuming insects in

3157: 3012: 2982: 2927:

Hummingbirds feeding; video recorded at 1,500 frames per second

2656: 2596: 2515: 2381: 2366: 2300: 2281: 2153: 2079: 1917: 1909: 1893:) displaying a proportionally large eye in relation to its head 1834:, creating the "humming" sound from its rapid wingbeats, while 1767:

for flower resources and mating. The bright colors result from

1720: 1521: 1161: 1024: 1002: 916: 911: 850: 662: 650: 597: 593: 577: 455: 425: 356: 170: 12450:"The hummingbird tongue is a fluid trap, not a capillary tube" 12401:"The hummingbird's tongue: A self-assembling capillary syphon" 10125:"Effects of flight speed upon muscle activity in hummingbirds" 10122: 9644:"18 Surprising Predators of Hummingbirds You Never Knew About" 8293: 7425: 6711:"How the hummingbird wingbeat is tuned for efficient hovering" 6163: 5766: 3509:

the presence in nectar of insect defensive chemicals (such as

2734:); a wingbeat rate 40% higher than its typical hovering rate. 687: 13628: 13522:

High-resolution photo gallery of many species of hummingbirds

13018:

Hurly, T.A.; Fox, T.A.O.; Zwueste, D.M.; Healy, S.D. (2014).

12057: 12004: 11433:"Protein Requirements of Costa's Hummingbirds Calypte costae" 3436: 3333: 3169: 3098: 2885: 2805:, which produces the high-pitched sound of a courtship dive. 2777: 2685: 2495: 2397: 2319:, allowing for precise regulation of water and electrolytes. 2131: 1921: 1898: 1813: 1760: 1600: 1185:

Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World

1075: 1055: 947: 855: 523: 352: 12832:

Attracting Hummingbirds |Missouri Department of Conservation

11895:"Hummingbirds have a greatly enlarged hippocampal formation" 11893:

Ward, B.J.; Day, L.B.; Wilkening, S.R.; et al. (2012).

9683: 9595:

Nyffeler, Martin; Maxwell, Michael R.; Remsen, J.V. (2017).

7554: 5904: 2062:

Hummingbird songs originate from at least seven specialized

560:

foot, showing three claw-like toes forward and one backward.

12399:

Kim, W.; Peaudecerf, F.; Baldwin, M.W.; Bush, J.W. (2012).

11837: 11081: 10170:. Oxford University Press, Ornithology Series. p. 34. 6025: 5676: 5332:

Bochenski, Zygmunt; Bochenski, Zbigniew M. (1 April 2008).

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Vol. 5. Barn-owls to Hummingbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona

4897: 3420: 3368: 3282: 3181: 3165: 3036: 2527: 2185: 1195:

below, the English names are those introduced in 1997. The

1023:("unexpected European hummingbird"), had been sitting in a 907: 581: 508: 399: 398:, weighing 18–24 grams (0.63–0.85 oz). Noted for long 337: 190: 11340: 11245:

Abrahamczyk, Stefan; Kessler, Michael (12 February 2010).

11159:

del Hoyo, Josep; Andrew, Elliott; Sargatal, Jordi (1999).

10432: 10011: 9597:"Bird predation by praying mantises: A global perspective" 9273: 5767:

Abrahamczyk, S.; Souto-Vilaros, D.; Renner, S. S. (2014).

5414: 5010: 4265: 2864:, a winter resident from Florida across the Gulf Coast to 2615:

and nectar by inserting her bill into the open mouth of a

1916:

responsible for visual processing, containing some 45,000

1571: 13143: 12903:. Peterson Field Guide Series. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 12566: 12007:

Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society

11814:

Comparative Physiology of the Vertebrate Digestive System

11787:

The Atlas of Birds: Diversity, Behavior, and Conservation

10366:"Sexual selection for flight performance in hummingbirds" 10053:

University of California - Riverside (25 February 2013).

7770:"Mitochondrial respiration in hummingbird flight muscles" 7094: 3185: 2519: 2091: 1869:

of wing strokes produced by the main flight muscles: the

1859: 1807: 1711:

Hummingbirds exhibit sexual size dimorphism according to

654: 12761:. Audubon California Kern River Preserve. Archived from 12398: 11580:"Arthropod Feeding by Two Dominican Hummingbird Species" 10529: 10190: 7485:

Riede, Tobias; Olson, Christopher R. (6 February 2020).

7233: 6874: 6832:"Eye morphology and retinal topography in hummingbirds ( 6196: 3880: 3777:

Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P. (29 January 2023).

2474:, is one signal that arouses a hummingbird from torpor. 1810:) green tail feathers than birds on a low-protein diet. 1081:

In 2013, a 50-million-year-old bird fossil unearthed in

514:

Hummingbirds are the smallest known and smallest living

13412:"Brand Refresh: Introducing the new Caribbean Airlines" 12405: