Fantastic fliers
Hummingbirds get their name from the hum coming from the superfast beat of their wings. The smallest ones beat their wings the fastest, up to 80 times per second. Even the slower beat of bigger birds, 20 times per second, is so fast that people see only a blur.
A hummingbird's flight muscles make up about one-third of its weight, a bigger amount than in any other bird. They are ;the only birds that can fly backward, upside down or sideways for more than a few seconds.
They are so good at flying that most don't ever walk. They use their feet only to perch. Even when they are just changing position on a branch, they fly.
Finding food
Hummingbirds are so active that they need to eat at least every 30 minutes when they're not sleeping.
They eat some insects, but their main food is nectar from flowers or trees. Water makes upabout three-fourths of nectar. Sucrose, or ordinary table sugar, makes up the rest.
They need to eat twice their body weight in nectar every day. To get enough nectar, they must feed from hundreds of flowers.
During the night, or when there is not enough food, they can go into a kind of hibernation.
If humans moved as much as hummingbirds, an 85-pound child would need to eat 1,481 Oreo cookies, or drink 538 12-ounce non-diet soft drinks, every single day.
Attracting hummingbirds
You can help hummingbirds and give yourselves a treat by putting out feeders or planting the right flowers.
Hummingbirds favorite flowers are red, red-orange or pink. Feeders often have red decorations, because hummingbirds know red means food.
Do not put red ;food coloring in the feeder nectar because this could harm the birds.
Nectar recipe
To make nectar, all you need are four parts of water and one part of white table sugar. For example, mix 4 cups water with 1 cup sugar.
Never put anything else in the nectar. Do NOT put honey in it. Honey can cause a hummingbird's tongue to swell, so the bird can't eat.
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