They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm, and the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. The smallest hummingbird is the Bee Hummingbird. The largest hummingbird is the Giant Hummingbird. A hummingbird's wings will rotate in a full circle.
Bee Hummingbirds beat their wings 200 times a second. If we used up the same amount of energy we would need to eat three times our own weight in potatoes each day!!!
Hummingbirds drink nectar, a sweet liquid inside certain flowers. they reject flower types that produce nectar that is less sugar content and prefer those whose sugar content is stronger. A hummingbird eats spiders and gnats to meet their needs for protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc.
To maintain their energy levels, hummingbirds eat every 15 to 20 minutes and may visit around 1,000 flowers per day. When they are unable to feed due to the weather, they go into a condition in which their metabolic rate comes down to only one-fifteenth of normal sleep.
As wings slice through the air they make the humming noise that gives the birds their name.
Many of the Hummingbird species have bright plumage with exotic colouration is not because of pigmentation , but instead from prism-like cells within the top layers of the feathers. When light hits these cells, it is split into wavelengths that reflect to the observer in varying degrees of intensity. The Hummingbird wing structure acts as a diffraction grating. As a result merely by shifting position, a muted-looking bird will suddenly become fiery red or vivid green.
Hummingbird flight has been studied intensively from an aerodynamic perspective using wind tunnels and high-speed video cameras.
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