Hummingbirds

Innocence, Gentleness and Beauty... This derives from the idea that they exist only to sing out a beautiful song for people to listen. They don't hurt anyone or cause any inconvieance. This would be a great idea for a tattoo to symbolise a loved one.

Hummingbirds are found natively in the Americas, from southern Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, including the Caribbean. The majority of species occur in tropical and subtropical Central and South America, but several species also breed in temperate areas. Only the migratory Ruby-throated Hummingbird breeds in continental North America east of the Mississippi River and Great Lakes. The Black-chinned Hummingbird, its close relative and another migrant, is the most widespread and common species in the western United States, while the Rufous Hummingbird is the most widespread species in western Canada.

Most hummingbirds of the U.S. and Canada migrate south in fall to spend the winter in northern Mexico or Central America. A few southern South American species also move to the tropics in the southern winter. A few species are year-round residents in the warmer coastal and interior desert regions. Among these is Anna's Hummingbird, a common resident from southern California inland to southern Arizona and north to southwestern British Columbia.

The Rufous Hummingbird is one of several species that breed in western North America and are wintering in increasing numbers in the southeastern United States, rather than in tropical Mexico. Thanks in part to artificial feeders and winter-blooming gardens, hummingbirds formerly considered doomed by faulty navigational instincts are surviving northern winters and even returning to the same gardens year after year. Individuals that survive winters in the north, however, may have altered internal navigation instincts that could be passed on to their offspring. The Rufous Hummingbird nests farther north than any other species and must tolerate temperatures below freezing on its breeding grounds. This cold hardiness enables it to survive temperatures well below freezing, provided that adequate shelter and feeders are available.

- I took this from the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird#Range

This persistent bit of folklore - usually citing geese as the carrier - must date from an earlier period, before much at all was known about hummingbird migration. There is not a shred of evidence to support this whimsical concept. Most Ruby-throated Hummingbirds winter between southern Mexico and northern Panama. Since hummingbirds lead solitary lives and neither live nor migrate in flocks, an individual bird may spend the winter anywhere in this range where the habitat is favorable, but probably returns to the same location each winter. Ruby-throats begin moving north as early as January, and by the end of February they are at the northern coast of Yucatan, gorging on insects and spiders to add a thick layer of fat in preparation for flying to the U.S. Some will skirt the Gulf of Mexico and follow the Texas coast north, while most apparently cross the Gulf, typically leaving at dusk for a nonstop flight of up to 500 miles, which takes 18-22 hours depending on the weather. Although hummingbirds may fly over water in company of mixed flocks of other bird species, they do not "hitchhike" on other birds. Some hummingbirds land on offshore oil rigs or fishing boats to rest. Moreover, hummingbirds are fully capable of traveling astounding distances on their own wings; it is generally accepted by scientists that most Ruby-throats fly non-stop across the Gulf of Mexico in the spring, and probably in both directions. found at: http://www.hummingbirds.net/migration.html

There is no colour in a Humming bird. All colour is a result of reflection of light.

To prove this, look at something, anything, in the dark

No, they don't, but the bright colors attract them more

Night-Time ;D

I watched a humming bird, not sure what species as it was 11:30 PM feeding at my white petunia hanging basket in my front yard at Erie Beach, Chatham Kent. Wednesday July 7th, 2010 No google web info on nocturnal hummingbirds, although there is a street light nearby. Possible nest nearby and bird is thinking light equals food. Interesting.

It is a mutual relationship. The flower needs the hummingbird to drink nectar and get a dusting with the flower's pollen, so ensuring there is cross-pollination as the bird moves from flower to flower.

Yes, bee and wasp stings CAN be fatal to hummingbirds. Hummingbirds will always try to avoid these predators, even staying away from feeders where they are present.

A hummingbird is an animal, does it look like a human? I didn't think so. They lay eggs as a reptile, and reptiles are animals, are'nt they? Yes they are.

Only a few zoos and private aviculturists are qualified to keep hummingbirds in captivity, but most residents of the Americas can attract wild hummingbirds by planting hummingbird-pollinated flowers or hanging a hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water.

That will depend upon the particular species of hummingbird. North American hummingbirds are said to beat their wings around 53 times per second during normal flight. A straight conversion to per minute or per hour would be about 3180 beats per minute or 190800 beats per hour. It is unknown if they can maintain it for that long. Larger hummingbirds generally have fewer beats per second and smaller ones have more.

A hummingbird's maximum forward flight speed is 30 miles per hour. These birds can reach up to 60 miles per hour in a dive, and hummingbirds have many adaptations for unique flight.

both lay eggs

skin is covered by feathers

both are vertebrates

both are lightweight and usually hollow or spongy.

I would suggest that the answer your leaning to is the Hummingbird Moth.

Moth's aren't my thing, here's a related link where you can find all the information you could possible want on them.

Your bird feeder should be placed close to shrubs or trees. It should also have a bird bath close by.

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It does not need to be very close to shrubs and trees. In fact it's better away from them, to make it harder for squirrels to rob the food.

Humming birds live in a temperate forest :D

Yes, hummingbirds can be very colorful with different veriety's of colors; such as purple and red. Check it yourself go to google.ca (images) and type hummingbird.

Sugar water for hummingbirds feeders is made by dissolving white granulated sugar in tap, well or bottled water. Powdered sugar, honey, "raw" or brown sugar, and low-calorie sweeteners may harm the birds should not be used. Bottled or filtered water can be used in places where the tap water has a high iron content or contains potentially dangerous pollutants such as arsenic, nitrates, trihalomethanes or coliform bacteria.

The recommended recipe calls for 3 to 5 parts water to 1 part sugar. A part can be anything from a tablespoon to a gallon, depending on how much solution you need to make. Stronger solutions (3:1) will be visited less often and defended more vigorously; weaker solutions will be visited more often, especially in hot, dry weather when the water is almost as important to the birds as the sugar.

Boiling is not necessary but helps to dissolve the sugar and may slow spoilage of the solution. Sugar water in feeders should be discarded and replaced every 2 to 5 days, more often in warm, windy, or rainy weather. Extra sugar water can be kept in the refrigerator for a week or more but should be discarded if it begins to turn cloudy or mold begins to grow inside the container.

There is no need to add food coloring to sugar water, and it may be dangerous to the birds' health. Bright color on the outside of the feeder is enough to attract hummingbirds.

If the sugar water in a feeder ferments, is diluted by rain, or gets contaminated by ants or bees, the birds may stop visiting for a while. They will return once the feeder is clean and full of fresh sugar water. To keep the solution fresh longer, hang the feeder where it will not be exposed to too much sun, rain, or wind and clean it thoroughly at least once a week. If your feeder is not easily cleaned with hot water and a sponge or bottle brush, invest in a better-designed feeder. Neglected feeders can be cleaned by soaking in a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach in 10 parts water or in a 1:1 solution of white vinegar and hot water.

thousand times a mimite

If you wait long enough, and wish hard enough, anything is possible. Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are normally orange or yellow, but there have been dark burgundy/maroon flowers, so that means the 'red' can be isolated and possibly muted to a pink.

Burpee has produced a Strawberry Blond hybrid. It certainly isn't all pink. . . yet. . . but from the inside out you have petals of muted yellow, pale maroon and a tip of beige, making "Strawberry Blond" a perfect name. Burpee says the blooms are "subtle lemon and rose-pink" and 5-6 inches across.

There is also another sunflower cultivar called Cherry Rose. Under low light it has a deep plum color and under sunny conditions an almost pink color, especially the outer half of the petals. I tend to think of it as just maroon, but eventually someone will mute it to fully pink petals surrounding a deep, dark center.

Yes, one of them is: the Bee Hummingbird, Mellisuga helenae.