Energetic, fast and at the same time completelya tiny hummingbird bird ... This creature looks more like a butterfly hovering over flowers or colorful jewels with wings. Hummingbird in English means "humming bird".
Hummingbird - a small wonder of nature
Hummingbird is a small beautiful miracle created byby nature! Typically, bird sizes range from 5 to 25 cm, respectively, weight - from 2 to 20 g. They have a long and sharp beak, reminiscent of a knot. Sometimes the beak is longer than the whole body of the bird. The color of these babies is bright, variegated and beautiful. Chameleon bird - this is how you can name a hummingbird. Its plumage varies at different times of the day depending on the lighting.
If you consider this bird as a flying machine,This is a mixture of a jet fighter and a helicopter, equipped with a large, powerful fuel-injected engine. 50 wing flaps per second - the speed is amazing! But this is not all achievements, max. the speed of a hummingbird while grooming a female, the speed that these little wings are capable of - 200 strokes per second!
Where they live and what they eat
Hummingbird in America. The largest representatives of this species can be found in the Andes, the smallest - in Cuba.
These birds are not afraid of man, very often theybuild their nests near his home. To lure these little beauties into your garden, you just need to plant your favorite flowers of birds in it and put regular drinking bowls with syrup there. Birds are consistent, if they like these offerings, they will return to this garden again and again.
They feed on small glutton insects and floral nectar. Glutons can be called with full confidence. If a person ate like hummingbirds, he would have to eat 150-190 kg of food per day.
Но оправдать их за такое чревоугодие вполне perhaps, because they eat on the fly. In order to get drunk on nectar, the hummingbird hangs near the flower, the wings at this time move in such a way that they do not create lift. The maximum speed of a hummingbird is in grooming a female, but during the day these birds lose no less energy, working with their wings to get food. Not surprisingly, their wings are almost entirely composed of feathers and muscles.
During the day, hummingbirds consume such amount of food, which is twice the mass of the bird itself. Naturally, the food should be washed down with water, which the kids do up to 180 times a day.
Maximum hummingbird speed when grooming a female
Nature decreed that the hummingbird males look much more effective than the females. They are real mods, compared to them females look modest and pale.
The speed of a hummingbird while courting. Females choose males
Privilege to choose your loverunconditionally owned by a female hummingbird. During the mating season, the female visits the territories of several males, observes the courtship and efforts of the male, and only then makes her choice.
Males during such mating games perform figuresaerobatics. The female hides in the bushes, but the male always knows where she hides. From a great height, it swoops down and immediately soars up directly above it. This is the maximum speed of a hummingbird while grooming a female. The answer of the fastidious "bride" has to wait some time.
Dizzy picketing speedaccompanied by a squeak. It is like a serenade during courtship. Pique male always makes to meet the sun, so that the female can appreciate the play of his feathers.
Mating occurs at high speed, in some cases it exceeds 80 km / h! After mating, this beautiful romance quickly ends, the female raises chicks alone.
Curious facts about hummingbird life
1. The maximum speed of a hummingbird when grooming a female is 100-115 km / h. the acceleration is 10 times greater than the force of gravity.
2. During the flight at maximum speed, the hummingbird experiences the same overload as a fighter pilot, and this overload is repeated many times.
3. Squeak, accompanying the peak of the male, publish bird feathers. At a certain angle at high speed, they vibrate, making the sound.