This video excerpt is from The Life of Birds by David Attenborough.  In it you will discover many fascinating things about hummingbird flight, that there are hummingbirds found in the Andes Mountains and so much more. 

This post makes me think of my mom who loved discovering fascinating facts or information on a wide variety of subjects, but particularly nature and wildlife.  Thus, I am certain that she would have loved discovering the information found in today's post and I hope that you will as well.

Did you know that a hummingbird has a part of its anatomy known as the gizzard?  If so, do you know what particular part of the hummingbird's anatomy is known as the gizzard?  If not, you will have discovered the answer through reading this post.

The gizzard is the term for the hummingbird's stomach.  As you might have figured out by now, this is where the food is digested.  A hummingbird is able to digest nectar quite quickly and effeciently, with nectar being able to pass entirely through a hummingbird's entire digestive system in less then 20 minutes.  That's right, I said in less then 20 minutes!  Don't you wish that the digestive process occured that rapidly whith in us humans?

Verbena is a plant which is which is known to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and even small song birds, because of its nectar, seeds and small insects.This plant is long blooming, lavender-flowered, and grows to approximately 5 ft. tall.

Most varieties of verbena plants will begin blooming in the summer and will continue to do so until the first frost occurs. The flowers of this plant come in a wide variety of colors including solid and bicolored blooms which include red, purple, white, yellow, orange, and peach with generally white or cream colored eyes.

This plant tends to do quite well in containers or hanging baskets. This plant will tolerate a wide range of soils as long as it is well drained. This plant usually does best in areas that are sunny but verbena can also tolerate partial shade as well.

Verbena is a plant which requires very little maintenance other than periodic watering and occasional pruning in order to help maintain its shape if the gardener wants bushier, less trailing growth. In order to encourage the plant to continue to bloom, you should deadhead and prune the plant back.

Well, once again I never cease to be amazed by all the amazing things I continue to discover about hummingbirds.  Today was no different.  I discovered that hummingbirds can even be found in the Bahama Islands.  This is something I myself did not know before today.  What about you ?

Here below you will find some of the many fascinating discoveries that I made about the Bahama Woodstar Hummingbird.  I hope you will enjoy making them as I myself did.  This is the type of information that I am sure my mom would have loved to have also discovered and that I would have enjoyed discussing with her.

The Bahama Woodstar Hummingbird is considered to be a medium sized hummingbird, even though it is only between 3 and 5 inches in length.  It is the most common species of hummingbird found in the Bahama Islands.  Although very rare, this species of hummingbird has been known to occassionally be seen in south Florida and it usually will be found around gradens located there.  Lastly, the Bahama Woodstar Hummingbird is known to nest all year round and does not migrate.

The White-eared Hummingbird is rarely known to breed in the United States and they are usually found in the high tropical mountains.With this particular species the male weighs more then the female, with the male weighing 3.6 grams to the females weight of 3.2 grams.

The White-eared Hummingbird is known to winter in the mountains of Mexico.Although quite rare, this species of hummingbird has been observed in the following states:Arizona,Michigan,Mississippi,New Mexico,and Texas.

If you think you have seen a White-eared Hummingbird here is a brief description of what both the adult male and female looks like.Hopefully, this should help you with the identification process of the particular hummingbird you have just seen.

The adult male has an emerald green back and breast, purple crown, iridescent blue-green chin, prominent white ear stripe, red bill with black tip.

The adult female can be described as having the following: a green back and crown, white breast and sides with green streaks, prominent white ear stripe, and a red bill with black tip.