By Maureen Peltier
As fall soon arrives in Tyler County, we will lose a common sight – our colorful, often entertaining, sometimes mean and aggressive Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
While they’re here, watch for the males’ bright emerald green backs and brilliant iridescent red throats as they fly forward, backward, sideways, up, down and in circles.
Their miraculous flying abilities are disproportionate to their three-inch wingspan and three-inch body size. Like flying jewels that flutter at more than 70 beats per second, their wings seem invisible as they hover in the air.
Weighing less than 5 cents, these aerial acrobats prepare for a 500 to 600-mile flight over the Gulf of Mexico or along the Texas coast to their winter quarters in areas from southern Mexico to Costa Rica.
There is evidence that hummingbirds sometimes use tailwinds to reach their destination faster. Studies also show that a hummingbird can travel up to 37 kilometers in a day. However, during migration they cross the Gulf of Mexico and can travel up to 800 kilometers in one go.
You’ll soon see more hummingbirds than usual, as millions of them migrate through Texas from their breeding grounds as far north as Nova Scotia. They’ll double their weight in preparation for these flights. If you’ve set up feeders, don’t take them down for two weeks after you’ve seen the last hummingbird – a straggler might stop by to refill its tank.
If you regularly set out feeders or have colorful flowers in your garden, they know you and your garden. That’s because hummingbirds have excellent memories and can find the feeders they’ve used in the past. It’s even said that they recognize people. Yes, the same birds you fed regularly this year could come back to feed at your place next March when they return.
A word of warning: If the feeding stations they depend on are not outside, they may go elsewhere and never return.
These creatures are wondrous, in case you haven’t noticed. They don’t fly like normal birds. They zoom – at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. Males reach 65 feet per second during courtship, soaring high into the air and then swooping past females while making loud noises with their tail feathers.
The hummingbird is the smallest of all birds—its brain makes up over four percent of its weight, making it the largest of all birds proportionally. Inside that big little brain is a veritable encyclopedia of life-saving information. Studies have shown that hummingbirds can remember every flower they’ve ever visited, including flowers on their migratory routes. They know how long to wait between visits to certain locations so that the flowers will have nectar for them. They’re even believed to be able to recognize humans. You may know a neighbor or friend who could get a hummingbird to land on their hand, but if you tried the same thing, the bird wouldn’t cooperate.
What else helps them do this, apart from their brains? Their excellent eyesight. They can see every color we can see, and unlike ours, their eyes can process ultraviolet light. To zip at such speeds, they have three translucent flaps of skin over their eyes that act like natural flight goggles.
According to research, a hummingbird’s metabolic needs are so high that they must enter a state of torpor to survive the night without food. This is why they are most active in the morning and evening hours. Unlike at night, hummingbirds, like marathon runners, have super-fast metabolisms and must constantly feed – about every 10 minutes. Estimates vary, but it is believed that they generally eat two to three times their body weight each day.
When it comes to flowers and feeders, it’s the bright colors that attract them. Try wearing a bright red hat among them and they might just give you a kiss. They rely not only on nectar from their favorite flowers, but also on insects and spiders.
They have to be on guard against predators such as blue jays and kestrels, as well as frogs and praying mantises that eat their eggs. At night there are other dangers such as squirrels and small rodents that attack the birds while they sleep and eat their eggs. However, in this area their normal life expectancy is often shortened by our cats and unexpected collisions with windows.
However, unless they die in an accident, fall victim to predators or suffer adverse weather conditions, they can live up to 12 years. Their average life expectancy is three to five years.
Not surprisingly, these feathered fliers are antisocial. The only time two are together is during the few minutes it takes to find a mate and mate. Then the male goes back to squabbling with other hummingbirds while defending his food source, and the female is busy building a nest and raising the young alone.
After fertilization by a male, the female builds a small nest about 1 inch deep, usually on a branch of a tree or shrub, and lays one to three eggs that are smooth, white, and the size of jelly beans. The young birds leave the nest 18 to 22 days later. If a female’s nest survives the winter while she is in the south, she may even reuse it when she returns. That alone is a good example of these birds’ memory!
There are 320 species of hummingbirds worldwide, 18 of which are found in North America and nine in Texas. Here in East Texas we have only one species, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. So, little birds, goodbye and safe travels. We will miss you – please come visit us next year. Your feeders will be in the same places as this year, we promise.