the.com/hummingbird
the only bird that flies backward, hovering like it broke physics on purpose.
means A tiny, jewel-colored bird native to the Americas, famous for beating its wings so fast it can hover in place and fly backward while sipping nectar.
from A plain English compound: the bird named for the humming sound its blurringly fast wingbeats make, a name dating from around the 17th century when Europeans first encountered these New World birds. The 'hum' is imitative — echoing the noise — joining a long tradition of birds named for the sounds they produce.
- heart rate
- Up to 1,260 beats per minute
- wing speed
- Around 80 flaps every single second
- daily appetite
- Eats twice its body weight in nectar
- near death
- Drops into torpor to survive cold nights
- memory
- Recalls every flower it ever visited
giant hummingbird — patagona gigas, largest hummingbird species at 8.5 inches, found in the andes
bee hummingbird — mellisuga helenae, smallest bird species at 2 inches long, endemic to cuba
ruby-throated hummingbird — archilochus colubris, most common in eastern north america, migrates 2,000 miles annually