Some hummingbird species are endangered, they are absolutely tiny, fragile birds are only a few inches long and their eggs are smaller than a jelly bean.
“Hummingbird eggs are tiny, about the size of jelly beans! Please remember to carefully check for nests before you trim trees and shrubs.’
34 hummingbird species (10%) are listed as “critically endangered,” which means they have a 50/50 chance of extinction within the next ten years.
So keeping an eye out for their tiny nests while pruning is essential for their survival.
The nests usually are usually built on a branch with a downward-slant, and often you will find them on a branch hanging over running water or open space, according to The Hummingbird Project.
They construct their nests out of spider webs, lichen and plant matter, meaning they are extremely delicate. The lichen also does a good job of camouflaging their nests.
Hummingbirds, on average, flap their wings between 50-80 beats per second, making them a literal blur to the human eye, if you have ever seen a hummingbird’s wings flapping, its usually because the video has been slowed down or the hummingbird is landing.
Their metabolism is just as speedy as their wings, and their weight can change drastically over the day as they eat and burn up energy; because of this, they consume anywhere between half to 8 times of their weight in sugar daily, and the average hummingbird feeds 5-8 times per hour, thats a lot of their waking day spent feeding!
Their hearts can beat over 1200 times per minute! If you compare that to the average human whose heart beats around 80 times per minute, that means every time our heart beats once, the hummingbirds heart beats 20 times, it’s crazy!
