After becoming stuck in a police station overnight, a tiny hummingbird was so weak that they could no longer fly. Since hummingbirds have extremely high metabolisms, they need to eat frequently to maintain their strength. Unable to fly, the weak hummingbird perched themself on a desk. When the workers arrived the next morning, they discovered […]
Tag: Hummingbirds
Keep Your Hummingbird Feeder In Tip-Top Shape With This Hydrogen Peroxide Hack
Hummingbird feeders are a charming addition to any yard, but it’s not enough to just hang them up and watch the birds flutter around them. They also require weekly upkeep, adding yet another thing to your chore list. Specifically, you need to clean them routinely in order to keep them hygienic and inviting, but, luckily, […]
Superior Vocal Learning in Birds Linked to Better Problem Solving and Bigger Brain Size
Originally introduced to North America in the 1800s, the European starling is a magnificent bird, tawny brown with white spots in winter, shining with iridescent purple and green feathers in summer. Not only are they dazzling, since starlings are also some of the most skilled vocal learners, with the ability to mimic the calls of […]
Do hummingbirds drink alcohol? More often than you think
You may not realize it, but that backyard hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water is a natural experiment in fermentation—yeast settle in and turn some of the sugar into alcohol. The same is true of nectar-filled flowers, which are an ideal gathering place for yeast—a type of fungus—and for bacteria that metabolize sugar and produce […]
Study: Woodpecker Drumming is Neurologically Similar to Songbird Vocalization
A team of scientists from the United States and Denmark has found specialized pecking-related regions in the woodpecker forebrain that show characteristics that until now have only been associated with vocal learning in animals and language in humans; instead of being related to vocalization, activity in these brain regions is related to the characteristic tree […]
Man Finds Baby Hummingbird and Nurses her Back to Health Until She’s Strong Enough to Fly
This man spotted a tiny lump on the sidewalk and found out that it was a baby hummingbird. The baby was too young to fly and appeared malnourished, so Sammy took her home and nursed the bird back to health. Sammy didn’t have any birds, so all the tools he used were makeshift. He made […]
Birds, bats, bees and butterflies are essential for pollination in your garden
Pollinators include birds, bats, bees, butterflies, and a variety of other insects. Interestingly, honey bees are particularly recognized for their pollination skills. We’d be in a lot of trouble if they didn’t exist. Pollinators are involved in one out of every three bites of food humans consume, and they are critical to the ecosystem’s balance. […]
Some hummingbird females display male coloring to avoid being harassed
Female hummingbirds sometimes look like the brightly colored males of their species. Researchers have long pondered the reason for this. Now, a study of hummingbirds in Panama suggests that sporting male-like feathers helps some females avoid intense bullying, researchers recently reported in Current Biology. To find out why this surprising pattern arises, researchers studied the […]