Flight
The number of times a hummingbird’s wings beat is different from one species to another, and ranges from 720 to 5400 times per minute when hovering.
• Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.
• Some hummingbirds fly at speeds greater than 33 miles per hour.
• A hummingbird’s wing beats take up so much energy, they spend the majority of their time resting on branches and twigs.
• Hummingbirds got their name from the humming noise their wings make in flight.
• Approximately 25-30% of a hummingbird’s bodyweight is flight muscle, as opposed to other birds, which average 15%.
• Hummingbirds can fly in the rain and, like dogs, shake their heads to dispel drops of water. Unlike dogs, however, a hummingbird shakes its head violently, 132 times per second, and rotating 202 degrees—all while flying and maintaining direction!
Metabolism
Hummingbirds can enter a state of physical inactivity called torpor, in which the birds reduce their body temperature to conserve energy.
“Adept at burning both glucose and fructose, which are the individual components of sugar; a unique trait other vertebrates cannot achieve.”
A hummingbird’s metabolism is about 100 times faster than an elephant’s!