Just Being a Good Host
By now you must have figured out that my new backyard visitors are keeping me busy. How could I not pay attention to such beautiful creatures, although you see them large on the photograph they are approximately 2.5 to 3.5 inches long all included. They can fly so fast that most of the times if they do not hover, all you’d see is a blur!
The female is larger than the mail, they are not able to walk like any other bird only perch and slide sideways, their legs are short and very close to their body. It’s been estimated that they must eat (drink) nectar 9 times their own weight daily, to compensate the amount of energy necessary to fly at such speed, their weight averages 4 grams. While hovering the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds beat their wings 55 times per second.
I’m happy to see them daily, wouldn’t you?
Click on images to see enlargements
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (M)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (F)
(M)
(F)
(M)
Text and photographs © H.J. Ruiz
H.J. Ruiz - Avian101 
Beautiful! I would like to be one of the birds in your garden.
Ok, I’ll make sure you get accommodations. 🙂
Thanks Julie!
I’ll see you soon then (I wish!)
Wow! These are so lovely!
Thank you so much Sharifah! 🙂
There is a lot of enjoyment in watching hummingbirds, their aggressiveness at a feeder to keep another from getting any, sometimes they are very comical, lol. 🙂 And definitely a difficult bird to photograph! Great work, HJ!
They’re fascinating to watch! I’m kind of in control now, I have a lot of photos of both the male and female. Thank you Donna for your kind comment! 🙂
These are among my favorite birds. I have feeders and see a few stop by every day. They are amazing.
Yes they are! Thanks Annie! 🙂