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| Family
Trochilidae |
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| Habitat
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Humming birds inhabit a variety of temperate and tropical habitats.
Their
basic habitat requirement is the presence of sufficient nectar
producing
flowers. Many species are migratory, and will travel over 2000 miles
from
North America to come to Costa Rica.
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| Food
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The hummingbird has the highest metabolic rate of any bird. Its pulse
rate
can exceed 1,200 beats a minute. Thus it needs to eat a lot. the
white-eared
hummingbird consumes up to 850% of its own weight in food and water
each
day. At night, they go into "hibernation," lowering their body
temperatures
and metabolism to conserve energy.
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| Breeding
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True loners, hummingbirds only relate to the opposite sex for a few
seconds
when they mate. Many are fiercely territorial. If you live here, you'll
probably
witness a spectacular aerial battle between males defending their
territories.
They take territories rich in flowers that females are attracted to,
she
will get ample food in exchange for "mating" favors.
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| Education
|
Literature
& eBooks
Children's Classic Literature by Twain, Bronte, Fitzgerald, Hawthorne,
Thoreau and more.
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| |
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Hummingbirds in Costa Rica
There
are more than 300 species of hummingbirds in the Americas (the family
Trochilidae),
and Costa Rica has 51 of these stunning birds. They are named for the
hum
made by the beat of their wings, which is faster than your eye can
detect
at up to 100 times per second. §
continued below ...
The
hummingbird's primary food is the high-energy nectar from flowers. For
protein,
they will also occasionally eat spiders and flying gnats.
You'll see hummingbirds hovering over flowers as they extract nectar
and
insects with their long, hollow, and extensile tongues forked at the
tip.
Unique among birds, they can generate power on both the forward and
backward
wing strokes and thus fly backwards. §
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