Tiny Bumble Bee Hummingbirds
Tara A. Spears
One benefit to staying home during the pandemic is that it gives you time to observe things you would have previously been too active to notice. Self-isolating in Jaltemba Bay, Mexico is excellent for wondrous natural sights such as hummingbirds. Several species of hummingbird are native to the area and present all year long. In addition, there are migrating hummingbird species that you can see up north during the summer.
Native to central and southern Mexico forests, this diminutive hummer is the second smallest bird in the world. Only the Bee Hummingbird is smaller. It averages 2.75 inches or 7 cm in length and weighs only 0.1 oz or 3 grams. To give perspective as to how tiny these Bumblebee hummingbirds are the hummers are the size of bumble bees and are lighter than a Canadian or U.S. penny!
The upper plumage and sides are mostly green. The plumage below is whitish. The rounded tail is green with a rufous (iridescent colors) base. The male bumblebee hummers have a purple throat.
Both the sexes communicate with each other through high-pitched, simple songs, not very soothing to the human ear. The songs may either be the repetition of a few notes, or short warbles. The birds are can also emit variety of vocal sounds like twittering and squeaking.
According to world of Hummingbirds, the bee hummingbird is primarily an herbivore (nectarivore), and thrives on nectar (honey) from different flowers. However, at times, they would also peck upon small insects and terrestrial non-insect arthropods like spider, etc. Bee Hummingbirds primarily feed on nectar taken from a variety of brightly colored, scented small flowers of trees, herbs, shrubs and epiphytes – visiting up to 1,500 flowers on an average day. They favor flowers with the highest sucrose concentrations. Bumblebee hummers love bougainvillea flowers.
They seek out, and aggressively protect, those areas containing flowers with high energy nectar. They use their long, extendible, straw-like tongues to retrieve the nectar while hovering with their tails cocked upward as they are licking at the nectar up to 13 times per second. Sometimes they may be seen hanging on the flower while feeding. They spend most of the day feeding as they have to eat half their total body mass and drink 8 times their total body mass in water each day to support their extremely high metabolism.
Many native and cultivated plants on whose flowers these birds feed heavily rely on them for pollination. The mostly tubular-shaped flowers actually exclude most bees and butterflies from feeding on them and, subsequently, from pollinating the plants. They also take some small spiders and insects – important sources of protein particularly needed during the breeding season to ensure the proper development of their young. Insects are often caught in flight (hawking); snatched off leaves or branches, or are taken from spider webs. A nesting female can capture up to 2,000 insects a day.
Males establish feeding territories, where they aggressively chase away other males as well as large insects – such as bumblebees and hawk moths – that want to feed in their territory. They use aerial flights and intimidating displays to defend their territories.
The hummingbirds give me something to smile about in this stay home time.