Humming birds are the world’s smallest birds, the bee humming bird of Cuba holding the record. Humming birds derive their name from the "whir" sound they produce during their hovering flight. Humming birds hovering flight is a delight to watch. The wing’s upstroke and down stroke exceed more than seventeen times to cover the bird’s flight movement for just one second.
They are primarily nectar feeders, but they feed on insects and spiders also.. Being nectar feeders they have specialized beaks and most importantly a well-designed long tongue. The end of the tongue is fringed. When the humming bird extends its tongue into the nectar of a flower, the fringes of the tongue draw up the nectar, by capillary action. The bird pulls back the tongue into the beak and the nectar is wrung out. The Andean Sword billed humming bird has the longest beak. It is the only bird in the world with a beak longer than its body, suitable for nectar feeding.
Humming birds help in pollination and the plants have developed special relationship with the birds. Heliconia plants of the Carribean islands have red and yellow flowers. The male of the Purple throated humming bird has a short beak that fits only into red flowers. The female’s beak is larger only suited for green flowers.
The territories of humming birds vary in size and depend upon the availability of food. In an experiment scientists covered half the flowers in a Rufus Humming bird’s territory with cloth bags. The bird enlarged its territory by including as many flowers as it had previously defended. When the original flowers were uncovered, the bird’s territory shrank back to its original size.
Humming birds are master architects in building their nests. The Ruby throated humming bird after choosing its nest site plasters the spot with saliva and glues its nest to the support. The nest is built of tight walls, which prevent heat loss. The nest is too small to locate by any predator. Besides it is well camouflaged with lichens to blend with surroundings. The Hermit humming bird of Venezuela builds a nest that hangs from threads of spider’s silk. The bird adds clay and pebbles below the point of attachment that act as counter weight and hold the nest in balance without tilting the nest to a side.
Humming birds lay one or two eggs each weighing just about 0.02 ounce. The hatchlings are fed with the regurgitated food by the parent birds. The parent bird shoves its beak into the chick’s gullet and pumps the food.
Humming birds living in tropical areas migrate a few thousand feet up the mountains or down. But the Ruby throated humming birds undertake cross- country migration. To get ready to cross six hundred miles of open water in the Gulf of Mexico, the male and females fill their stomachs with nectar, insects and spiders and grow fat. They weigh six ounces, twice their original weight to withstand the rigors of migration.
Small or big, nature is full of wonders.
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