100 More Species #49: Ruby-throated hummingbird

[urbpan]

Ruby-throated hummingbird Archilochus colubris

Hummingbirds are only found in the New World, and in the northeast the only hummingbird that one is likely to encounter is the ruby-throat. A couple other species are infrequent visitors, but the ruby-throat spends the whole summer in our area, nesting and raising tiny chicks. The group is much more diverse in the west, and especially in the Neotropics.

Hummingbirds are truly unique among birds, with a wing-beat frequency of over 50 per second, allowing them to hover in place, fly backwards or straight up, and perform aerial acrobatics no other vertebrate can manage. They feed mainly on flower nectar, supplemented with small insects and spiders. Commercially available hummingbird feeders are available, but ours has attracted only ants. Our cheap butterfly bushes--nearly dead when Alexis rescued them from the close-out shelf--seem to be what drew this female to the yard. The species is named for the metallic red feathers on the male's throat.


This is the nest of a captive Costa's hummingbird at the Franklin Park Zoo, photo by Sarah Woodruff.

Comments

[shimmerngspirit.livejournal.com]

Oh They're so precious. I love this post.

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize hummingbirds are found only in the Americas. What fills their ecological niche in ye Olde Worlde?

[dragonwrites.livejournal.com]

Tiny hummingbird nest with tiny hummingbirds? That's a squee.

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

If you'll permit me to be unscientific/ridiculous for as moment, I think I had the vague idea in the back of my mind that these guys couldn't/didn't perch. Yes, well. Now I know!