Fun Hummingbird Facts!
Apr 04, 2019
Hummingbird Facts to Amaze Mere Humans

- Hummingbirds can fly forwards, backwards, shift sideways and stop in midair.
- Hummingbirds are the world’s smallest birds.
- Hummingbirds can reach speeds of 60 mph.
- On average, a hummingbird consumes half its weight in nectar each day.
- Hummingbirds may not have a sense of smell. They seem to locate their food (including small insects) entirely by sight.
- A hummingbird has between 40 and 60 taste buds; a human has approximately 10,000 taste buds.
- Hummingbirds lap nectar with their tongues at the rate of about 13 licks per second.
- Hummingbirds feed 5 to 8 times an hour for about 30 to 60 seconds per time.
- Hummingbirds cool themselves by panting, much as dogs do, and by using an internal evaporative-cooling system.
- Hummingbirds beat their wings about 78 times per second during regular flight and up to 2000 times during a dive.
- The fastest wing beat during normal flight – 90 beats per second – belongs to the Sun Gem, a South American species.
- A hummingbird egg is about the size of a pea; a nest s about the width of a Quarter coin.
- A hummingbird’s heart beats about 1260 times per minute.
- Hummingbirds decrease their heart rate and their breathing dramatically overnight. In the morning, it can take more than an hour for a hummingbird to wake up and fly.
- The adult male “Bee Hummingbird” of Cuba is only 2.24 inches long, including bill and tail. It weighs 0.056 ounces.
- Hummingbirds may use the same nesting site repeatedly.
- Hummingbirds bathe by flying through sprinklers or misters, rain showers or through the spray of waterfalls.