Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are <a href="/facts/Bird/RJF6zwLP">birds</a> native to the <a href="/facts/Americas/hEuUTL4K">Americas</a> and comprise the <a href="/facts/Family_(biology)/qTrn6E8E">biological family</a> Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genera</a>, they occur from <a href="/facts/Alaska/LlDNr2uR">Alaska</a> to <a href="/facts/Tierra_del_Fuego/cHbg7wpL">Tierra del Fuego</a>, but most species are found in <a href="/facts/Central_America/CXKgTuxC">Central</a> and South America. As of 2024, 21 hummingbird species are listed as <a href="/facts/Endangered_species/L7cIweSW">endangered</a> or <a href="/facts/Critically_endangered/UI5nTQwF">critically endangered</a>, with numerous species declining in population.
Hummingbirds have varied specialized characteristics to enable rapid, maneuverable flight: exceptional <a href="/facts/Metabolism/WxDrm8k5">metabolic capacity</a>, adaptations to high altitude, sensitive visual and communication abilities, and long-distance migration in some species. Among all birds, male hummingbirds have the widest diversity of <a href="/facts/Plumage/7QrTsra5">plumage</a> color, particularly in blues, greens, and purples. Hummingbirds are the smallest mature birds, measuring 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) in length. The smallest is the 5 cm (2.0 in) <a href="/facts/Bee_hummingbird/CoxjXjKw">bee hummingbird</a>, which weighs less than 2.0 g (0.07 oz), and the largest is the 23 cm (9 in) <a href="/facts/Giant_hummingbird/rRc5FvVo">giant hummingbird</a>, weighing 18–24 grams (0.63–0.85 oz). Noted for long <a href="/facts/Beak/ogF79j48">beaks</a>, hummingbirds are specialized for <a href="/facts/Nectarivore/DpaMFneX">feeding on flower nectar</a>, but all species also consume small insects.
Hummingbirds are known by that name because of the humming sound created by their beating <a href="/facts/Bird%2527s_wing/IpptVuX9">wings</a>, which flap at high frequencies audible to other birds and humans. They hover at rapid wing-flapping rates, which vary from around 12 beats per second in the largest species to 99 per second in small hummingbirds.
Hummingbirds have the highest <a href="/facts/Basal_metabolic_rate/lrT2cwEe">mass-specific metabolic rate</a> of any <a href="/facts/Homeothermic/vf5or2Cj">homeothermic</a> animal. To conserve energy when food is scarce and at night when not foraging, they can enter <a href="/facts/Torpor/IlGtqU22">torpor</a>, a state similar to <a href="/facts/Hibernation/oltroTtp">hibernation</a>, and slow their <a href="/facts/Metabolic_rate/lrT2cwEe">metabolic rate</a> to 1⁄15 of its normal rate. While most hummingbirds do not <a href="/facts/Bird_migration/GvraPhgn">migrate</a>, the <a href="/facts/Rufous_hummingbird/Ahmsy84e">rufous hummingbird</a> has one of the longest migrations among birds, traveling twice per year between Alaska and <a href="/facts/Mexico/IT5bwhdh">Mexico</a>, a distance of about 3,900 miles (6,300 km).
Hummingbirds split from their <a href="/facts/Sister_taxon/pNNuVex4">sister group</a>, the <a href="/facts/Swift_(bird)/VCEvAWuo">swifts</a> and <a href="/facts/Treeswift/G47lzkaH">treeswifts</a>, around 42 million years ago. The oldest known fossil hummingbird is <a href="/facts/Eurotrochilus/t8Ae3mwn">Eurotrochilus</a>, from the <a href="/facts/Rupelian/9o544Kxj">Rupelian</a> Stage of Early Oligocene Europe.

Hummingbird open-in-new

Hummingbird