Teeny Tiny Hummingbirdsf
As summer vacations wrap up and kids return to school, one small bird is preparing for a monumental journey. Hummingbird migration season gets underway in August, sending the birds flying to warm destinations thousands of miles away to last out the cold winter months and bringing bird-watchers new opportunities to catch sight of them on their trip. Weighing as little as 2 grams, hummingbirds don’t appear to be formidable creatures. But every year as autumn approaches, many birds native to the U.S. set off on a long journey south in search of warmer climates and blooming flowers. Chillier temperatures don’t necessarily bother the birds, but finding new food sources is a top priority.
Hummingbirds don’t eat with their long beak but rather lap up sweet liquids like a cat and milk? Hummingbirds have long, narrow bills and small, saber-like wings. Males (and occasionally females) have a colorful gorget—small, stiff, highly reflective, colored feathers on the throat and upper chest. These shiny feathers and others around the head may look sooty black until a hummingbird turns its head to catch the sun and display the intense, metallic spectral color. Hummingbird eggs look like mini white jelly beans and are the size of navy beans. These hummingbirds can be found all the way from Alaska to the southernmost tip of South America. There are only 15 types of hummingbirds that are often spotted in the United States. Hummingbirds eat nectar and sugar-water feeders, along with sap and small insects as their diet.
Hummingbirds are known to come back to feeders and flowers year after year. They have been seen, through banded research, to return to the areas where they were hatched! “Birds that drink nectar tend to be aggressive.” Researchers’ best hypothesis is this: Most birds need to find their food—hidden seeds or grubs—but hummingbirds feed on flowers that are showy by nature. That means they can see all their food sources, but so does the competition. “They evolved to be really aggressive defending that food from other animals that might also eat it,” It takes a hummingbird about five to seven days to build its nest. Females are the ones to build the nests and they make them of lichen, moss, and spiderwebs. Teeny tiny hummingbirds have teeny tiny nests. A typical nest is about the size of a half-dollar coin. Bird experts say not all hummingbirds depart at the same time. Males begin the journey first, with females and then juveniles following soon afterward. “There’s this kind of asynchronous cycle of migration,” Witko said. Since males play a minor role in raising their young, they often embark on the trip south sooner, usually by the first of September, followed by females a few weeks later after their offspring leave the nest. Then, the young hummingbirds set out on the journey alone.
Hummmmm
What’s the difference between bird flu and swine flu?
One requires a tweetment and one requires an oinkment.
I was at WalMart to buy bird seed and with a straight face I asked the nice young lady that worked there:
“How long does it take the birds to grow up, once I plant these seeds?”
The teacher asked little Johnnie if he had ever seen a hummingbird…
Little Johnnie said, “No, but one time I saw a spelling bee.”
I was home from college and watching TV while my dad was working in the yard. He saw there was a baby bird at the base of one of our trees. He thought it might have fallen out of nest and got a ladder to put the little feather bundle back up there. When he returned, he saw there was another little bird on the ground as well. He leaned the ladder against the tree and heard a loud chirping above. Dad watched as the mother bird noisily pushed a third small bird out of the nest. Dad put the ladder away walked into the house and told me, “Get a job.”
September 12th Birthdays
1987 – Emmy Rossum, 1998 – Sydney Sweeney, 2000 – Lily Van Der Meer, 1981 – Jennifer Hudson
1957 – Hans Zimmer, 1964 – Greg Gutfeld, 1997 – Colin Ford, 1913 – Jesse Owens