Photo by Glenn Fay at Catamount Family Center, Williston, VT.

Anyone who has thrilled to the buzzing and swooping of a hummingbird appreciates their incredible uniqueness. There is a reason they can get our attention! Okay, a lot of reasons.

A hummingbird beats its wings up to 200 times a second and has a heat rate of up to 20 beats per second! The one above is a female, with a white throat, while males have a bright ruby red throat. These tiny birds fly at average speeds of 20-30 mph although they can reach 60!  Some can fly 500 miles non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico. There is even a myth that hummingbirds can hitch a ride on larger birds!

The hummingbird can rotate its wings in a circle, they are the only bird that can fly forwards, backwards, up, down ,sideways and  hover in mid air. The female lays two pea-sized eggs in a walnut-sized nest and incubates them for 12-16 days. There are 163 different species in Ecuador, although there is only one species in Vermont, or anywhere east of the Mississippi River.

Yet almost 10 percent of hummingbirds worldwide are facing extinction. As pollution, our changing climate and development puts more pressure on birds and their habitat this will continue to be a concern. They also play a role in the ecosystem that would  be difficult to replace. According to the Annenberg Project “By flying from flower to flower, the hummingbird pollinates the plants it feeds on. Some plants can only reproduce because of hummingbird pollination. Some insects are eaten by hummingbirds, which in turn have been eaten by small predators, including large insects, some fish, and small hawks..” These are amazingly unusual and beautiful birds.  You can attract and support hummingbirds with a feeder in your yard.

Video: handfeeder, youtube

Check out an awesome book on hummingbirds and hummingbird feeders here: