Hummingbirds Facts

Hummingbirds cannot become addicted to the nectar you put out in your feeder. They will leave the feeders when they need to.

Hummingbirds eat both nectar and the small insects found near the nectar.

Although male hummers are more colorful than female hummers, female hummingbirds are relatively colorful.

Hummingbirds have split tongues, which they fold into a tube when feeding.

Normal flight speed for a hummingbird is 25 to 30 mph, but hummers can dive at speeds of up to 60 mph.

It takes hummingbird eggs two to 2 1/2 weeks to hatch.

Hummingbird eggs are so small that a penny would completely cover three of them. The usual brood, however, is two eggs.

Hummingbird nests average about 1-1/2 inches in outside diameter. A penny will almost fill the inside diameter.

Only ten species of hummers have significant ranges north of Mexico. Only the ruby-throated hummingbird ranges east of the Mississippi.

In the eighteenth century, when Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus devised the scientific classification system still in use today (kingdom, phylum, class, order and family) hummingbirds were assigned their own family: Trochilidae, from the Greek trochilos, meaning small bird.

When early Spanish explorers encountered hummingbirds they called them Joyas voladoras, flying jewels.

Hummingbirds are native to South America.

Adult female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are 15-20% larger than adult males.

The only bird that can fly backwards is the Hummingbird.

A hummingbird's heart beats 615 beats in a minute.