Hummingbird

The colourful hummingbird is named after the noise it makes. The noise is produced by their wings that flap so fast they look blurred. In the time it takes you to say hummingbird, it can flap it’s wings 100 times! Hummingbirds live in North and South America and grow to be 5-13cm in length.

Hummingbirds eat the nectar from flowers because they need to drink more than twice their weight in nectar every day to stay alive. They have a long feathery tongue for licking up the nectar from right inside the flowers.

Hummingbirds are expert flyers and they can even fly backwards! When feeding the hummingbird can even hover like a helicopter when getting nectar from the flowers. The hummingbird gets very tired and needs to rest for long periods in between flying.

The hummingbird will lay two eggs in a cup shaped nest that she has made from moss and mud. These tiny eggs are about the same size as raisins! When the chicks hatch the mother feeds with insects and nectar. The nest she has makes even contains spider’s silk. This means as the chicks grow, the nest can grow.