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| Hummingbirds | ||||||||||
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| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | ||||||||||
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| Many: see text |
Introduction
Hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of its wings (15 to 80 beats per second, depending on the size of the bird). They are the only bird that can fly backwards.
They are named for the characteristic hum of this rapid wing motion, and are attracted to many flowering plants such as shrimp plants. Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of these plants. They are important pollinators, especially of deep throated flowers.
They are especially attracted to red flowers: hummingbirds can be attracted by feeders stocked with red sugar water. Many species will also take insects.
Male hummingbirds are usually brightly coloured, females duller. The males take no part in nesting. The nest is usually a neat cup in a tree. Two white eggs are laid, which are large compared to the bird. Incubation is typically 14-19 days.
The Bee Hummingbird, Mellisuga helenae, is, at 1.8 grams, the smallest bird in the world. A typical North American hummingbird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Archilochus colubris, weighs approximately 3 grams, length 7.6 cm (3 in).
Location
Hummingbirds are only found in the Americas. The Black-chinned Hummingbird is the commonest species in the western United States and Canada. Only the Ruby-throated Hummingbird breeds in eastern North America, but occasional members of other hummingbird species ("accidentals" in birding jargon) are seen in the east of North America, sometimes as vagrants from Cuba or the Bahamas.
There is an increasing trend for Rufous Hummingbirds to migrate east to winter in the eastern United States, rather than south to Central America; this trend being the result of increased survival with the provision of artificial feeders in gardens – in the past, individuals that migrated east would usually die, but now they survive, and their tendency to migrate east is inherited by their offspring. Provided sufficient food and shelter is available, they are surprisingly hardy, able to tolerate temperatures down to at least -20°C.
Taxonomy
Traditionally hummingbirds were placed in the order Apodiformes, which also contains the swifts. In the modern Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, hummingbirds are separated as a new hummingbird order Trochiliformes.
In Artistic Depiction
The Aztec god Huitzilopochtli is often depicted as a hummingbird.
Hummingbirds are thought to have evolved in South America, and the great majority of the species are found there. All the most familiar North American species are thought to be of relatively recent origin, and are therefore (following the usual proceedure of lists starting with more 'ancestral' species and ending with the most recent) listed close to the end of the list.
Species
There are between 325-340 species of hummingbird, depending on taxonomic viewpoint, divided into two subfamilies, the hermits (subfamily Phaethornithinae, 34 species in six genera), and the typical hummingbirds (subfamily Trochilinae, all the others).Subfamily Phaethornithinae
Subfamily Trochilinae
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