Wings~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels, Wild Life

Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world. Anna’s weigh about .14 ounce, but they can fly at speeds of up to 60 mph.

Unlike other birds they can fly backwards and upside down, and they are among the 1% of birds who can hover.

Hummers fly upright, not flat like other birds.

Their wings rotate 180 degrees, on their shoulder ball and socket joints,

and can beat up to 200 times per minute!

Despite their petite size, hummingbirds have mega-brains. Their brains constitute 4.2% of their body weight, greater than any other bird, and greater than human beings whose brains are about 2% of their body mass. Hummers remember how to fly thousands of miles, they know and remember which humans can be counted on to feed them, and they remember which flowers have the best nectar.

Cheers to you from the small but mighty hummer~

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144 thoughts on “Wings~”

  5. Superb captures, Cindy! Love the hummer facts, too. A few years ago, I realized they remember specific plants as one arrived in early spring and hovered near the hooks where I place my hangers off the deck. I went right out and bought them new plants! I make sure that they are in now in place by early May.

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  10. I have one female Anna’s coning to the feeder but the Wasps are acting like drunken sailors!
    She can hardly sit down for a drink without one of them buzzing her!
    I’ve had a few of my Baldies hover above me and I see Osprey hover as well.

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    1. Yes, raptors are awesome at hovering. It is one of my favorite things to watch them do, and then they DIVE. Falcons do this too and they are soooo fast. The wasps and bees are problems. I’ve had whole hives encase the feeder. Moving the feeder works. Recently the roadrunners started hunting the hummers at the feeder, I moved the feeder into our inner courtyard, which solved the bee/wasp issue and the hunting problem. Now they are practically in our house. All these photos were taken in the courtyard დ

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  11. Hummers are such amazing birds. When I lived in Phoenix I saw one doing his vertical mating flight (dance?) in the middle of a hiking trail. He was not to be deterred by passing humans. When I came back two hours later, he was still there, zipping through his flight pattern. I think of him often and hope he found a mate.

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    1. How wonderful that you saw this! It is so incredible to see them zoom to such incredible heights at such speed, and then in a blink of an eye, they are zooming back down at even greater speed, with eyelash precision. They are such skilled pilots დ

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  28. Had many visits of these little hummingbirds, but since the feeder was in front of the kitchen window I never was able to get a good image of then without reflections of the inside of my house. All I have are memories:)

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  34. Such beauties — thank you for showing them up close, Cindy. I’ve long been fascinated by hummers. Just reading these facts convinces me tiny birdies like these are gifts from a Creator who loves this world!

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  36. Mighty indeed.  The relative brain size figure was new to me, and it is impressive.  Running a big brain takes a lot of fuel.  Come to think of it, hummers need serious brain power to control their swiss-army-knife flight muscles as well as to decide where to go next.

    Using a camera well is one of the few things hummers can’t do, but U take care of that.

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  39. I love your hummer photographs. I never expected this birds to live so far up in the north. As a fun fact: In German the word Hummer means lobster and the birds are named Kolibri.

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  42. Pingback: Wings~ – STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHE INFOGRAPHISTE DENIS LEVIEUX

  48. I haven’t seen the hummers in the forest for a few days so it was lovely to see them here. I hear them every day (though not as much as usual) but they have not come to say hello for 3 or 4 days now. Perhaps because of the cooler weather. It has occurred to me to hang a feeder in the bushes where they hang out.
    Alison

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