They have some supernatural physical abilities. Hummingbirds have a greater length-to-speed ratio than super-fast fighters and space shuttles during re-entry. Can you imagine? They have a speed of 400 of their bodies per second.
This is because the smallest hummingbirds make up to 100 wing beats per second. Fuck knows how they do it. But they, thanks to such a speed of swing, hang motionless in the air. And you won’t even understand right away that this is - the human eye is not able to catch this. There is a bright spot. And this is a hummingbird.
But that's not all. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly not only forward, but also sideways, and even backwards. Have you ever seen an eagle flying upside down? That's right, no. Because he can't. Hummingbirds also know how to enter at a peak, and instantly slow down in the air.
They spend a huge amount of energy on all these tricks of theirs, so they eat all the time. Hummingbirds are the most insatiable birds on Earth. They eat twice their weight in a day.
And you think such monsters are able to get enough of one nectar? Fuck something there. Hummingbirds are predators. Their main food is insects living in flowers.
An insect sits on a flower, which has read fairy tales about lovely hummingbirds, and does not worry about anything. And then a bright spot flies up, wraps its long tongue around it and pulls it into its mouth.
“Wait, wait,” yells the unfortunate victim. - But you're a cute hummingbird, you eat nectar!
- Yes, right now, I drink meat with nectar, - the hummingbird answers gloomily, and laughs infernally.
Horror is simple, "Predator" of some kind.
To all the delights, the hummingbird has an extremely bad temper. They get everyone around. Hummingbirds do not get along in flocks, they constantly peck each other to death. For example, they can fight for comfortable flowers with feeding. And they are not afraid to attack large birds, especially if they fly up to their nests. The poor big birds don't even see what attacked them.
Hummingbirds also scream like hell in a thin voice.
Hummingbirds never land on the ground, they eat on the fly. I have not found information anywhere about how hummingbirds sleep. And don't tell me, I don't want to know. Imagination draws a picture: night, darkness, and blurry spots of hummingbirds sleeping right in the air.
And then there is the hawk moth, whose wing movement is exactly the same as that of a hummingbird. And so they are often confused. The devil knows what kind of spot hung over the flower. Like, oh, what a charm, hummingbird! And then it hits you, and you see that it is a vile fat butterfly with a dead head on its back. Nightmare all around.
In short, we must pray that hummingbirds do not evolve. And then suddenly they grow up? Imagine a twenty-pound bird that can fly ass-first, moves at the speed of a fighter jet, yells like a chainsaw, and eats twice its weight. Are there people here who weigh 40 kg? Here be afraid. And think about how much they would crap with such an appetite?
But even if this happens, the hummingbirds will fly to England in the first place, to avenge their own. Because in the Victorian era, ladies were very fond of hanging dead hummingbirds on themselves. Hat ornaments, brooches and even earrings were made from their stuffed animals. So I see a noble lady who comes into secular society, and dead birds hang in her ears. So England is a star.
Therefore, hummingbirds are fucking not mimimi. This is, damn it, another potential danger to humanity.
A sapphire flash, a flutter of wings, and the tiny creature vanishes like a fleeting vision. A moment - and it appears again. This thumb-sized baby is truly a real bird. Her wings make eighty beats per second with a barely audible buzz. Tail feathers, like oars, rake in the air, helping the bird move in three dimensions at once. Looking into the funnel of a bright orange flower, she sticks out a thin, thread-like tongue from her beak-needle. Feathers shimmer, reflecting the sun's rays. Even scientists, speaking of them, use the epithets "beautiful", "striking" and "exotic".
It is impossible to take your eyes off them - bright, shiny, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. These birds are so delightful that they cannot be described in dry scientific terms.
This is K O L I B R I
And that is not all!
In total, there are about 330 species of hummingbirds in the world. These fragile-looking creatures are the hardiest in the animal kingdom. They are found in very different, often even harsh climates from Alaska to Argentina, from the deserts of Arizona to the coast of Nova Scotia, from the Brazilian selva to the Andean snow line, but these birds live only in the New World;
The weight of the hummingbird is 1.6 g, and the length is 5.7 cm, while the tail and beak make up half the length of the body. The body length of a giant hummingbird is about 20 cm. The maximum life expectancy of a hummingbird is 9 years;
Of the anatomical features, the extraordinary development of the heart should be mentioned: it is almost three times larger in volume than the stomach and occupies half the body cavity. This is due to the high mobility of birds and fast metabolism. We add that hummingbirds have more red blood cells than other birds;
The heart rate of hummingbirds is extremely high - 500 beats per minute. And it's at rest! In some species, it reaches 1000 per minute. In its entire life, it contracts 4.5 billion times - almost twice as much as a human heart during seventy years of life;
Hummingbirds eat a lot: they consume about 2 times more per day than they weigh themselves. Only in this way can they maintain an increased metabolism and a constant body temperature. They feed on the nectar of flowers and insects;
The flight of hummingbirds is extremely fast (up to 80 km / h), they make up to 80-100 strokes per second. The movement of the wings is so fast that the outlines of their accomplishment merge; very often they keep motionless in front of the flowers thanks to the rapid beat of the wings;
Christopher Clark of the University of California at Berkeley, using cameras capable of taking ultra-fast sequences of frames, captured the moments of a hummingbird entering a dive. As a result, Clark calculated: hummingbirds reached a speed of almost 400 of their bodies per second. Comparing the length of a hummingbird's body with its speed, Christopher Clark stated that their ratio is "greater than that of a fighter jet with afterburner on, and greater than that of a space shuttle at the moment of entry into the earth's atmosphere." At the last stage of the dive, when the hummingbirds open their wings, they demonstrate such instantaneous deceleration, which is not available to any other living organism performing aerial maneuvers;
Hummingbirds do not form pairs. All their nesting affairs, from building a nest to raising chicks, fall exclusively on the share of the female. The clutch in almost all cases consists of 2 eggs, very rarely only 1 egg;
In June 1976, a buffy hummingbird flew to Ratmanov Island in the Bering Strait. This is the first finding of a hummingbird in Russia;
In addition, Kolibri is a musical group, a Russian publishing house founded in 2004, a Pieper pistol, an amateur operating system (KolibriOS), and a family of hybrid balloons developed at OSKBES MAI, as well as a tourist collapsible frame kayak.
Thrifty, very energetic and beautiful, fearless and the smallest bird in the world - this is how a hummingbird can be characterized. Few people know that under this name lies as many as 330 species of small feathered creations of nature with iridescent plumage, which are distinguished by scientists in a whole detachment of Hummingbirds. Swifts are closest to them in terms of genetic data, but even these two related orders of birds have very few similarities, which once again proves the uniqueness of small hummingbirds. But before they were mistaken for insects! Do you want to know more about these unusual birds? This time has come.
Hummingbird - unique in every way
The smallest size is not the only way hummingbirds differ from ordinary birds. Above all, they are the only birds that can easily fly backwards. This ability is carried out due to the special structure of the skeleton, which provides great flexibility of the shoulder joint of birds. That is why the wings can turn in any direction, which allows the hummingbird not only to hover in the air for a while and perform various turns and maneuvers of any degree of complexity, but also to move backwards.
The main food of the hummingbird is flower nectar, which is obtained using a long trunk. It is believed that Hummingbirds have the longest beak among all birds known to science - another record for these colorful birds. These birds require food very often due to the increased metabolism and energy consumption of the body, as well as large heat losses. You will be surprised, but to maintain the life of a hummingbird, you need to eat nectar almost every 10 minutes! Thus, a bird in a daily cycle eats food that weighs twice as much as itself.
Hummingbirds are true patriots
Few people know that hummingbirds live only in America throughout the continents - from the southern capes of Argentina to the northern icebergs of Alaska. In the rest of the world, these bright birds do not live in their natural habitat. Although sedentary, some species of Hummingbirds fly short distances within America in search of food and nesting sites.
As for the nests of hummingbirds, we can say the following: they also amaze with their meager size - no more than half a walnut shell, and the eggs barely exceed the size of an ordinary pea. This again emphasizes the uniqueness of these birds, which spend most of their lives in the air - their legs are so weak and not adapted for walking that they perform a decorative function rather than a motor and support one.
The swift beauty of hummingbirds
Despite their small size and external fragility, hummingbirds are able to reach very high speeds - more than 80 kilometers per hour. This speed is ensured by a huge frequency of wing beats - from 20 per second in large individuals to 200 in small ones during the mating season. This is the reason for the frequent overheating of the body of a hummingbird, which is immediately neutralized by cold air flows from the wings.
Hummingbirds are polygamous birds, so the single female is responsible for carrying the eggs. These birds do not form married couples, preferring a free life to this, which does not prevent them from continuing their kind. Unfortunately, at the moment Hummingbirds are exterminated not only by natural enemies of the species, but also by humans for the sake of beautiful iridescent wings. Despite this, these most beautiful creations of nature will delight, surprise and touch many people who cannot remain indifferent to bright little birds for a long time to come.
It is no secret that the hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world, its size is slightly larger than some insects, and sometimes a large one can even be larger than a small hummingbird. But the hummingbird is not only remarkable for its size, the bright color of the feathers and the specific temperament make them one of the most amazing and unique representatives of the animal world of our planet.
Hummingbird: description, structure, characteristics. What does a hummingbird look like?
The size of a hummingbird does not exceed 5 cm, the weight of a hummingbird averages 1.6-1.8 grams. But among the hummingbirds there are also larger representatives, the so-called "giant hummingbird", whose dimensions are truly gigantic compared to their small relatives, the weight of a gigantic hummingbird can reach up to 20 grams, with a body length of as much as 21-22 cm.
It looks like a gigantic hummingbird.
The bright plumage of hummingbirds, which also shimmers in different colors under the sun's rays, is the subject of their little pride, and, interestingly, male hummingbirds are colored brighter than females. Some hummingbirds have tufts or a little coloration on their heads. The tail of a hummingbird, depending on its species, may have a different shape, but, as a rule, it consists of ten feathers, which also have a bright color.
The beak of a hummingbird is thin, long, the upper part of the beak wraps around the bottom. Hummingbirds also have a forked tongue. The wings of a hummingbird have a sharp shape, each wing has 9-10 primary feathers and 6 short small ones, which are completely hidden under cover feathers. The paws of a hummingbird are small, weak, and also with long claws, as a result, they are practically not suitable for walking, which is why hummingbirds spend most of their time in the air.
Of the more than 350 species of hummingbirds, only a few have the ability to sing, while the hummingbird's voice is like a faint chirp.
How many strokes per second does a hummingbird make?
In addition to their bright plumage and small size, hummingbirds have something else to surprise us with - the speed with which these birds flap their wings is truly fantastic. In a short time during which a person only has time to blink, a hummingbird makes dozens of flapping wings. So, how many wing beats per second does a hummingbird make? Small hummingbirds make 80-100 strokes per second, large hummingbirds are not so agile and make only 8-10 strokes per second. Thanks to such a fast flapping of the wings, these birds can literally hang in the air above some flower, extracting nectar from it with their long beaks.
The flight of a hummingbird is somewhat similar in its properties to flight, and interestingly, hummingbirds are the only birds among birds that can fly in the opposite direction. The flight speed of a hummingbird can reach 80 km per hour. True, such fast flights are not easy for them, since they consume a large amount of energy, for example, the heart of a bird during a fast flight accelerates to 1200 beats per minute, while at rest it makes only 500 beats per minute.
How long do hummingbirds live
The maximum life span of these smallest birds averages 8-9 years.
Where do hummingbirds live
Hummingbirds live exclusively on the American continent, and in both South and North America, wherever there are flowers. The way of life of hummingbirds is mainly sedentary, preferring to settle in mountain meadows and humid equatorial forests. Some species of these birds, such as the ruby-throated hummingbird, are resistant to cold climates, and live, for example, in Canada.
What does a hummingbird eat
One of the additional nicknames that these birds have is “feathered”, which perfectly characterizes what they eat. Like bees, hummingbirds feed on flower nectar and, like bees again, perform a useful function in pollinating flowers.
But hummingbirds are not limited to flower nectar alone, being omnivorous creatures, they also prey on various small insects, which they catch right on the fly. It should be noted that hummingbirds are incredibly voracious (both for their small size, of course), so the total weight of food consumed per day can even exceed the hummingbird's own weight by 1.5 times. It is also interesting that during the reception of nectar, the tongue of a hummingbird descends into the neck of a flower at a speed of 20 times per second.
Hummingbird Enemies
Hummingbirds also have their enemies, who are not averse to feasting on these bright birds - these are various larger feathered predators, snakes and bird spiders. But it is also very difficult for them to catch a hummingbird with incredible speeds. In addition, hummingbirds are very brave and can sometimes bravely fight back or even attack larger birds.
But the main and most dangerous enemy of the hummingbird, like other representatives of the animal world, is, of course, man. So the deforestation of the tropical forests of South America has led to the fact that 2 species of hummingbirds living in these forests have disappeared completely, and 46 species are now listed in. Although some of the hummingbirds have adapted to the neighborhood with humans, and even feel quite good in city parks and flower beds.
Types of hummingbirds, photos and names
As we wrote above, zoologists have more than 350 species of hummingbirds and it makes no sense to describe them all.
This is the smallest representative of the hummingbird, and indeed of all birds on Earth. The bee hummingbird is 7 cm in size and is found in Cuba.
And this is the opposite, the largest representative of the hummingbird family, its body length is 21-22 cm and weighs 18-20 grams.
Hummingbird breeding
The hummingbird nest where they lay their eggs is as small as its hosts, about the size of a small cup. These hummingbirds create nests from cobwebs, fluff, blades of grass, pieces of bark.
Usually, for one laying, a hummingbird lays 2 eggs with a diameter of 10 mm. The female hummingbird is engaged in hatching eggs for 14-19 days, then for several months after the birth of the chicks, she feeds them until they become ready for independent life.
- According to the beliefs of the American Indian Aztecs, hummingbirds are the reincarnation of the souls of dead warriors.
- The oldest hummingbirds known to science, about 30 million years old, were found in Germany, which indicates their wider habitat in antiquity. Subsequently, hummingbirds did not survive in Europe due to various reasons.
- Hummingbirds are present on the coat of arms of such Latin American countries as Trinidad and Tobago.
Hummingbird video
And in conclusion, an interesting documentary film about our today's heroine - "The Secret Life of a Hummingbird".
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The message about the hummingbird for children can be used by students in preparation for the lesson. The story about the hummingbird can be supplemented with interesting facts.
Hummingbird Report
hummingbird- a family of small birds, the only one in the order of hummingbirds. It is the only bird in the world that can fly backwards.
Where do hummingbirds live? They are found exclusively in America (from South Alaska and Labrador to Tierra del Fuego).
How many types of hummingbirds are there? Now there are 330 species of hummingbirds.
Description of the hummingbird
The size of a hummingbird can be from 5 cm (bee hummingbird) to 20 cm (giant hummingbird). These birds have a thin beak, and the edges of the upper half are slightly bent down. In some species, the beak can be compared in size to the very body of the bird. The tongue is forked, long. The wings are sharp, unique structure. They move exclusively through the air through weak paws with sharp claws. They have picturesque bunches of feathers on their heads. The coloration is bright, varied, in males the feathers are brighter than in females.
Hummingbird lifestyle
These little birds are quite bold and agile. They may attack relatively large birds and even snakes while defending their nest. They can reach speeds up to 80 km/h. In addition, these birds, unlike others, can fly not only forward, but also backward, as well as to the side. Just to stay in one place, especially small species make about 50 wing beats per second, while this figure increases to hundreds of wing movements during the flight.
The heart of a hummingbird beats very often - at rest about 500 beats per minute, and in flight - from 1200.
Hummingbirds can lower their metabolism to conserve energy, which helps them on long flights. In addition, before migration, 72% of the weight is converted into fat, which is also used as an energy source.
What does a hummingbird eat?
Hummingbirds are voracious birds: one bird can eat more than it weighs. Birds look for food on flowers. Besides the fact that they feed on flower nectar, small insects also make up the main part of the diet. Most often, birds find them on the surface of flowers, or collect insects caught in the web.
Since hummingbirds feed on flower nectar, they are pollinators for many plants.
Hummingbird breeding
Nests are built only by females, usually in trees or bushes. To do this, they use grass, cobwebs, wool or pieces of bark. They lay white eggs from a centimeter long, and, while hatching them, they keep the temperature 25 ° C higher than the surrounding one. They do this thanks to their plumage.
We hope that the above information about hummingbirds has helped you. And you can leave your story about the hummingbird through the comment form.