These fascinating facts are guaranteed to make you even more enthusiastic about the hummingbird!
First of all, they come back to where they breed. Research shows that the hummingbird often returns to the area where they breed. In addition, the hummingbird cannot walk. The legs are only used to land on, or take off from. They can’t hop either.
The hummingbird travels very far to get to warmer areas. They sometimes travel more than 6000 kilometers to get to, for example, Mexico. When they return to their breeding ground, they often do so alone. That’s why you’ll rarely see hummingbirds together or in groups. On top of that, this bird is very territorial. They do everything they can to protect their food and breeding ground. All forms of food are intensively protected. They spend a lot of time chasing away other birds, including other hummingbirds.
While flying, it is also nice to see that they are very agile. They can turn on a dime, even in the air. In addition, the hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards. Because the wings rotate in the shape of a back, they can easily manoeuvre and therefore also fly backwards. The fact that the wings can move up to 50 times per second, also makes the bird very agile.
Where it is not possible for many other animals to see colors, the hummingbird can. They can see all colors the human eye can see, with ultraviolet light. Red is the favorite color of the hummingbird, because they can see that one the best.
Source: PixabayThey also sometimes eat the sap of trees, especially the males, as they arrive early in the season at the breeding fields. At that time, the flowers are not yet in growth, so it is not possible to eat the nectar from flowers. That’s why they like to eat the sap from the trees. Because of this, they follow the woodpecker and use the holes in the trees to drink the sap. If you want to have the hummingbird in your own garden, plant some trees to increase the chance of spotting this bird.
The tongue of the hummingbird is used to suck the nectar from the trees or flowers. Because of the length of the tongue, they can easily penetrate deep into the flowers to retrieve the nectar. The tongue is also used to drink from feeding troughs. They are not allowed to drink organic sugar. This can be very bad for the birds’ organs.
The hummingbird often rests on rocking objects. This because the hummingbird spends about 80 percent of the time they are awake, resting. You can even buy special swings to lure the hummingbird to your own garden.
The hummingbird is also able to build a nest in less than a week. The nests are only made by the female. This is partly possible because the nests are extremely small. They are no bigger than a large coin.
