Hummingbirds are truly nature’s avian gems.   These little critters seem at times to be supernatural, floating on air and making impossible aerobatic maneuvers.  Hummingbirds may very well have been the inspiration for tales of fairies throughout folklore!  Some Native American tribes honored hummingbirds by naming their mightiest of warriors after these small creatures... they are quick and elusive yet they were observed defending their territories with the hearts of eagles.  If you are fortunate enough to have an abundance of hummingbirds in your geographic area, and you learn just enough to present your hummingbird feeders in such a way as to to keep them coming back each season, you may very well find yourself “addicted to hummers!”  If you are interested in purchasing feeders for these amazing little creatures, then you are sure to enjoy a stroll through our Hummingbird Feeder Store.

We do not profess to be the end-all source for hummingbird information here on our website.  There are literally thousands of other sites and hundreds of books dedicated to hummingbirds.  If you should find yourself needing to know every little tidbit of information on hummingbird migration routes, nutrition requirements, habitat preferences and feeding patterns, you can find all the heavy reading material that you'd ever want!  We are, however, happy to get you started here with a smattering of somewhat common knowledge on the subject of hummingbirds.  But remember, you don’t need to be an expert to post your hummingbird feeders, and reap the enjoyment of watching these little wild song birds.  And please take a few minutes to visit our Hummingbird Feeder Store.

The first thing to know about hummingbirds is that they are dedicated travelers.  Most North American varieties migrate thousands of miles each year, some ranging from Canada to Mexico or Central America and back.  They respond to instinctual hormonal changes in their little bodies, triggered by the length of daylight, which compels them to follow the warmer weather and the supply of their main protein source, bugs!  So, you can rest assured knowing that if you keep your hummingbird feeders posted a little late into the season for your area, the lure of your nectar will not keep them from following their internal “call of the wild” to move along.  The sweet sugar water solutions that hummingbird aficionados post for these amazing little wild birds, along with the naturally occurring nectar that they harvest from flowers, just provides them with a welcomed boost of energy so that they can get back to their business of catching insects like ants, gnats and small flies.  In fact, hummingbirds are purported to consume half their body weight each day in nectar.  Now that’s quite a boost!  The nectar from hummingbird feeders also helps them keep hydrated, and to build up a much-needed layer of fat before they pack up and move on to the next stop on their migration.

Here are a few commonly accepted numbers associated with hummingbirds:

4 to 1: parts water to sugar in hummingbird nectar

5 or 6: years a hummingbird is likely to live in the wild

12: years, oldest documented hummer in the wild

10-15: wing beats/second for larger species

50: wing beats/second for average species

80: wing beats/second for smallest species

60:  miles per hour a hummingbird can fly

50 to 180:  heart beats per minute for a resting bird

Over 1200:  heart beats per minute for a flying bird

So, now that you know a little bit about hummingbirds, you are ready to use this information to attract swarms of the little gems to your hummingbird feeders.   For even more information, please visit our page on Hummingbird Feeder Facts and Tips.  And, we are proud to offer you a large variety of feeders to chose from, so please visit our Hummingbird Feeder Store.