Hummingbirds

Do you ever wonder how a hummingbird gets its nutrition? Obviously, the hummingbird loves flowers but did you realize how important the flowers are to the tiny creature?


A hummingbird must consume 2/3 of it's weight in food each day (24 hours) or it will not survive. A hummingbird is only hours away from starvation at any time. Nectar found in the flowers, is the primary food for the hummingbird, although they do consume insects for protein.

The hummingbird seeks flowers with a high nectar content, some flowers may have a 10 or 15% nectar content but other flowers may have a 25% nectar content, these are the flowers a hummingbird prefers. Why work hard to get all that nutrition? They are smart little birds.

A hummingbird feeds about every 10 minutes, which makes them seem like little pigs. The little creature has a long tapered bill which helps to probe into a flower and extract the nectar. The beak pokes into the long tubular flower and the special designed tongue then acts like a straw and sips the nectar right out of the flower.

Color is another criteria the hummingbird applies to finding nutritious flowers. Red flowers seem to be a favorite of the hummingbird, although hummingbirds are found feeding on flowers of all colors. Red flowers are overlooked by insects as insects do not see the color red and that makes red flowers less appealing to the insect. The hummingbird gets all the nectar to himself. Pretty smart bird.

In the flower kingdom, the trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) has about the highest content of nectar of all flowers per blossom. So the creeper is definitely one of the hummingbird delicacies.

A typical hummingbird nest is quite small, about the size of a walnut shell. The small nest is tended by the female hummer as the male has nothing to do with the nesting or raising of the young.

The tiny nest typically has 2 eggs of about 1/2 inch in size. This is a fairly large egg for such a tiny bird. The eggs incubate in the nest for about 2 weeks before hatching.

The female hummer must feed the new babies by regurgitating the insects she eats and feeding this to her babies.

Hummingbirds are beautiful creatures and they can be fun to photograph. I have been taking pictures of the hummingbirds at my house for several weeks now. This is how we attracted and now photograph the birds.

We first placed a big red flower on the deck; the hummers are attracted to the red flowers. We must have chosen a high nectar content flower as the hummers went crazy over this particular flower.

The next thing we did was place an inexpensive feeder on our window, held on by suction cups. We made our own nectar to fill the feeder and within minutes of placing the feeder on the window it was bombarded by hummingbirds.

The hummingbirds fight over the feeder, we now have one cute hummer that sits on the deck and watches over the feeder to be certain no other hummer gets any nectar. It is very entertaining to watch how this hummingbird has taken ownership of the feeder.

I have set a tripod at the window for my camera and take pictures frequently of the hummers as they feed; I have done this for several weeks. The hummers have become accoustomed to the camera and me at the window and are not at all shy. I can now go out on the deck and set in a chair with my camera and take pictures with them only a few feet away.

It appears that if you take your time and let the hummers become acquainted with you they will become quite fond of you. They seem to set and pose for their pictures now.

The hummer in this picture, I call her "the guard" she sits here and will not allow other hummers to come near the feeder. As soon as another hummingbird comes to feed she chases them off then comes back and perches here watching the feeder.

Even as tiny as the hummingbird may be he must migrate to warm climates for the winter. This means that this tiny creature must fly from as far north as Canada to as far south as the Yucatan.

Some hummers appear to travel over a land route and make several stops along the way to their southern home. But there are other hummers that are capable of flying over the Gulf of Mexico all in one trip. These little hummers make a 500 mile journey in about 20 hours. During this 20 hour trip they lose most of their body weight it is a risky trip.

Here is a site with lots of hummingbird migration information. If you want to learn more about the hummingbird migration I suggest you check this site out and learn more about it.
Migration information

I designed this 12oz mug for the hummingbird lover with a great hummingbird photo.

Take a Sip

All hummingbird photos were provided by Rebecca Hiatt and are the property of Rebecca Hiatt Photography.