Hunlock Creek PA
2010

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird


Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 366 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Central and South America. About 28 hummingbird species are listed as endangered or critically endangered, with numerous species declining in population.

Hummingbirds have varied specialized characteristics to enable rapid, maneuverable flight, exceptional metabolic capacity, adaptations to high altitude, sensitive visual and communication abilities, and long-distance migration in some species. Among all birds, male hummingbirds have the widest diversity of plumage color, particularly in blues, greens, and purples. Hummingbirds are the smallest mature birds, measuring 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) in length. Noted for long beaks, hummingbirds are specialized for feeding on flower nectar, but all species also consume small insects.

They are known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings, which flap at high frequencies audible to other birds and humans. They hover at rapid wing-flapping rates, which vary from around 12 beats per second in the largest species to 80 per second in small hummingbirds.


Brightly colored and mesmerizing, hummingbirds are some of the most interesting of the over 18,000 bird species in the world. If you live in the United States, you've probably seen them fluttering around during the summertime. Perhaps you've heard them, too—the name hummingbird comes from the buzzing sound of their fast-flapping wings. From distinctive physiological features to intriguing migration patterns, the following facts will get you acquainted with the world's smallest birds.

Hummingbirds, which are tiny, colorful, thin-beaked birds, get their name from the humming noise that occurs when they flap their wings very fast (averaging from 10 to 80 times per second, depending on species). The over 300 species of hummingbirds are natives of the New World (North and South America circa the early 16th century during the European “age of discovery”).

A hummingbird’s brilliant throat color is not caused by feather pigmentation, but rather by iridescence in the arrangement of the feathers. Light level, moisture, angle of viewing, wear and tear, and other factors all influence just how bright and colorful the throat may appear.