Hummingbird Characteristics

Hummingbirds acquired their name from their ability to beat their tiny wings at incredible speeds, with some capable of 200 beats per second. This rapid wing beating produces a humming sound. All hummingbird species share certain characteristics in addition to this gift, including their size, colors and flying talents.

  1. Size

    • The female hummingbirds are actually larger than the males of the species. This is because the females do the majority of the rearing of the young. They have to be larger to have the ability to lay the eggs, incubate them with their body warmth and then feed the little ones when they finally hatch. This makes male hummingbirds, according to the Learner.org website, the smallest animals with warm blood in the world.

    Colors

    • The males of most species of hummingbird possess vibrant-colored and gleaming feathers in the area of the throat. These feathers serve to attract the female hummingbirds during courtship. The bright shades on the throat also readily identify a male to another male, letting the other male know that he has come into the territory of another hummingbird.

    Hovering

    • All hummingbirds have the unique skill of being able to rotate their wings in a backward direction. By doing so, they can fly backward, and when they alternate backward and forward movements, they have the power to hover. This comes in handy, because it allows the hummingbird to stay one place in the air while feeding on the nectar of various flowers.

    Features

    • Hummingbird chest muscle fibers are all one type, a kind that enables a constant supply of oxygen and blood to reach the area. This is why a hummingbird can beat its wings so quickly and not tire out while doing so. Hummingbird beaks are narrow and long to allow the bird to get at the contents of the flowers on which it feeds.

    Temperature Change

    • The body of a hummingbird undergoes a transformation while it sleeps to lower the amount of energy it needs to consume. While many birds see a drop in their overall body temperature, the hummingbird's goes down as far as 65 degrees Fahrenheit. This capacity to lower their temperature is a characteristic of only a select few species of mammals and birds.

    Migration

    • The hummingbird species that live in the United States will migrate to warmer regions to spend the winter months. Some, like the rufous hummingbird, make a trip of thousands of miles, from Alaska to Mexico, while others such as the Allen's hummingbird will not travel as far, staying in northern California in the summer and the warmer southern part of the state in the winter.