Hummingbirds have the largest brain per body size than all other birds. Their brain takes up 4.2 percent of bodyweight compared to a human brain at 2 percent.
A hummingbirds main food is nectar from flowers, pollen and insects. They will eat tree sap when nectar is in short supply. And, mosquitoes!
A hummingbirds need to consume approximately 2 x its weight daily to survive, feeding every 10 minutes! About 1 fridge of food for a human!
Hummingbirds can fly left, right, up, down, backwards, upside down, on their side and hover in one place. Please, watch the video slow motion.
A hummingbird’s brilliant throat colour is not created by pigmentation in the feathers but by iridescence in the arrangement of the feathers.
Using endcode geometry hummingbirds can remember the location of every flower in their territory and how long it takes to fill again with nectar.
A hummingbird's weak feet are not good at walking or hopping but they can shuffle sideways while they are perched. Clearly they prefer flying.
The hummingbird see insects not visible to the naked eye. They see ultra violet light as well as colours and have an extra eyelid to protect their eyes when flying at high speeds.
For survival in cold weather hummingbirds put themselves into a state called torpor. They slow their heart from over 1,000 to as low as 50 beats per minute.
For it's size the hummingbird is the fastest bird in the world flying 385 times it's body length in one second! Space shuttle re-entry = 207 per sec.
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