What is a Lek?

Hummingbird — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:31:45 +0000

A lek is when a bunch of male hummingbirds, as many as 100, will get together and sing for the females. If a female appears to be interested in a particular male then he will dance for her. If the female likes the dance preformed by the male then they will mate.

The act of mating only last about four seconds! Isn’t that amazing? After mating, the birds will each go their own way. It is the female hummingbird bares the sole responsibility for building the nests and caring for the young birds once they are born. After mating, the male has no further responsibilities toward reproduction. The male is then off to find a new female with which to mate once again.

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The Longest Bill

Hummingbird — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:17:44 +0000

Did you know that there is a hummingbird with a bill that is longer then its body? Do you know the name of the species to which I am referring? If not then you will discover something about hummingbirds that you did not yet know.

The strange looking species of hummingbird to which I am referring is known as the Sword-billed Hummingbird. It may interest you to know that this is the only bird in the world which has a bill that is actually longer than its body. This causes the bird to be unable to preen itself and therefore it has to use its feet. The reason its bill is so very long is so it can feed on plants with long corollas. This bird also has an unusually long tongue.

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Just How Much Do Hummingbirds Eat?

Hummingbird — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:18:19 +0000

You may have heard that a hummingbird can starve to death quite quickly, in as little as two hours. Due to this, hummingbirds must eat frequently, between 5 and 8 times an hour. Have you ever wondered just how much hummingbirds eat? The answer may surprise you.

No other animal on earth has a faster metabolism then the hummingbird. Just how fast is it? It is roughly 100 times that of an elephant. These very tiny birds burn calories so quickly that they often eat 1.5 to 3 times their body weight in food per day! As a result of their efforts to gather enough nectar, these bids must visit hundreds of flowers every day.

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What is the oldest Mention of Hummingbirds?

Hummingbird — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 04:23:54 +0000

Have you ever wondered when hummingbirds first became known? If so , I have the answer for you. Hope you find it to be as interesting and surprising as I myself did. The oldest historical mention of hummingbirds dates back to the Tiano Native Americans, around the time of Columbus.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Hummingbird — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:36:37 +0000

Hello everyone! I hope that each of you are having a very blessed holiday. However and wherever you choose to spend your day, take the time to appreciate all of life's many blessings. Life is far too short to do otherwise. I know that I myself have far too many to do otherwise.

To all my family and friends I love each of you very much and I want to thank you for all that you bring to my life. Each of you truly make my life worth living and I can't imagin it without you in it.

Also, I am very happy and thankful that my sister and her husband have just recently moved back to Texas from Florida. Having you live closer and getting to visit with you was a very wonderful blessing. Thanks for coming to visit all the family!

In short, I have so many blessings to be thankful for and I do not intend to take any of them for granted. I hope that each of you will realize all your own blessings in life and choose not to take them for granted either. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

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Is Too Good a Habitat Possible?

Hummingbird — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:35:33 +0000

Is there such a thing as having too good a hummingbird habitat? Believe it or not, this is quite possible. Let me explain what I mean by this.

If there are too many plants, flowers, or shrubs in your area which attract hummingbirds, then the birds may have no need to visit the feeders in the area. Simply put, the natural food supply is available with such abundance that alternet food sources aren't necessary. After all, why shouldn't the birds prefer the natural food sources available over the artificial nectar solution that we provide in hummingbird feeders?

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Nectar Solution Ratio in the Winter

Hummingbird — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:10:39 +0000

During the winter months you will have fewer hummingbirds visiting your hummingbird feeders, but this is not to say that the feeders don’t still provide a vital source of nourishment to the birds that visit your feeders. In the winter, you may wish to change your ratio used to make your nectar solution from the usual 4:1 mix to 3:1 to help retard freezing of the nectar solution. Even in the winter, it is not necessary to put anything in the nectar solution other then sugar water.

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Hummingbird Love

Hummingbird — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:48:47 +0000

This short video clip shows a pair of hummingbirds feeding at the same feeder, from the same hole at the same time. The person who filmed this video was holding the feeder in one hand and the camera in the other one. Due to the extremely territorial nature of hummingbirds, I certainly never thought two birds would feed from the same whole at the same time. Did this suprise you too?

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Computer Troubles

Hummingbird — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:36:39 +0000

Technology is a wonderful thing when it is working properly, but very frustrating whenever it isn’t. That is my situation. My computer has been giving me all kinds of problems recently, it will freeze up in the middle of use, it takes several attempts to reboot successfully and the CD ROM drive won’t read a disk. Each time I use the computer lately I must pray that I will successfully complete the task at hand without encountering another problem. The whole situation makes me want to pull my hair out! You see, I love the computer as long as mine is working properly otherwise I hate it. Can anyone tell that I’m stressed about the whole situation and very frustrated?

As a result, my computer is going to be put into the shop later today. My friend’s grandson has agreed to come get it and work on it. Yea! I have absolutely no idea how long it will take it to get fixed or how long I will be without it as a result, but I know that it must finally be placed in the shop and repaired. Whatever the actual diagnosis, I’m sure my computer will finally be much better off after its visit to the “computer doctor.” My computer will be in the very capable hands of my friend’s grandson because this is what he does for a living. Nevertheless I’m still going to feel very lost without it because I use it so much.

I am sorry that the problems have occurred and must be fixed. The time has come to finally have the problems addressed and fixed. That is why there will not be any further post for the next several days, as I will have no computer access whatsoever. If I had had more notice as to when the “computer doctor” was going to come and get the computer, I would have done several days worth of post in advance but that just wasn’t possible this time. Sorry about that everyone! I will be back posting again as soon as possible. This is Hummingbird signing off until next time.

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The Amazing Heart of a Hummingbird

Hummingbird — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:49:10 +0000

It may interest you to know, of all bird species, hummingbirds have the largest known relative heart size. The heart represents 2.4 percent of their body weight. This is quite large for such a tiny bird. An active hummingbird can have an incredibly fast heart rate. A rate of 1260 beats per minute was measured in a Blue-throated Hummingbird.

In torpid hummingbirds, the heart rate can drop to 50-180 per minute. This is because the sleep of torpid hummingbirds is a sleep that is as deep as death. According to the book, American Ornithology, written by Alexander Wilson in 1832, torpor is described as follows: "No motion of the lungs could be perceived … the eyes were shut, and, when touched by the finger, [the bird] gave no signs of life or motion."

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