I don’t know if it’s fatigue, too much work, or lack of attention, but I haven’t been maintaining my hummingbird feeders as well as usual this season. Recently, as I was sitting on the front steps of the house where three feeders hang, I noticed that each one needed to be refilled.
As I sat there, wondering whether I should get up and mix up a batch of sugar water, a female hummingbird flew over to me from the nearby spruce tree. The bird hovered about two feet from my face, at eye level. We were obviously looking into each other’s eyes. In other words, we were having a moment.
After a few zigzag movements, the bird suddenly flew to one of the empty feeders. Without examining any of the openings with its beak, it simply hovered in front of the bone-dry feeder while seemingly looking at me and telling me: “See? It’s empty! Please fill it.”
And then she flew away.
Her message was the nudge I needed. I immediately got up, went inside, mixed fresh sugar water, and filled the feeders. Few birds delight us more than ruby-throated hummingbirds. Here in northern Minnesota, hummingbirds, which live only four months of the year, are the best birds among us. They are so easy to attract, so remarkable to watch, and so interesting to learn about that it’s no wonder they top the list of birds most sought after by birders and bird-feeding enthusiasts. And why not? What other birds can perform such aerial feats as they do?
Aside from the amazing ability to fly in virtually any position and direction, many people find the inquisitive nature of hummingbirds to be their most endearing trait. The curious bird that showed me that its feeder was empty certainly underscores this, but hummingbirds are nonetheless tireless bundles of energy, willing to investigate almost anything that moves or is brightly colored, especially red colors.
Anyone familiar with the habits and society of hummingbirds will attest that hummingbirds are attracted to colors in the reddish spectrum. One only has to look at the red-colored blossoms of prairie and forest flowers and the specially shaped petals of these flowers to realize that the two very different life forms – plants and birds – are inextricably linked.
As with the Ruby-throated Hummingbird and other hummingbird species, some plants have evolved so that pollination can only be carried out by a specific species of hummingbird.
Hummingbirds are blessed with anatomical features and characteristics unlike any other bird. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are less than four inches long and weigh about three grams (about the weight of a paper clip!). They can fly up to 60 miles per hour, beating their wings at up to 80 beats per second during normal flight. At rest, a hummingbird’s heart beats about 200 to 250 beats per minute, but while flying and feeding, its heart beats an astonishing 1,200 beats per minute.
Even when feeding on nectar or sugar water, their long, licking tongues can extend and retract at a rate of up to 13 licks per second. A feeding Ruby-throated Hummingbird demonstrates its mastery of flight by flying backwards, forwards, and even upside down for short periods of time. They can also suddenly stop mid-flight and hover over a flower while scanning it for possible openings or assessing it as a food source. In addition, their pleasant chirping sounds and whirring wings are almost as variable as the variety of their flight maneuvers.
The fact that a female hummingbird asked me to kindly fill her favorite feeder with fresh sugar water is, in my opinion, a sure sign that hummingbirds are affable. Dressed in iridescent green above and white below, with males showing off their distinctive ruby throat patches, it’s easy to see why we’re so drawn to these wonderfully dainty birds when we get out and enjoy the great outdoors.
Blane Klemek is a wildlife manager with the Minnesota DNR. He can be reached at
Blane Klemek is a wildlife manager with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and a longtime outdoor writer.
