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Why Are Hummingbirds Only Found in the Americas?
Why Are Hummingbirds Only Found in the Americas?
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read Every hummingbird species alive today lives only in the Western Hemisphere. That part is simple and true right now. Go back more than... Read more...
Do Hummingbirds Have a Sense of Smell? Barely, But They Can Taste
Do Hummingbirds Have a Sense of Smell? Barely, But They Can Taste
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read Does a hummingbird smell the nectar before it drinks? Mostly, no. Birds as a group have a reputation for a weak sense of... Read more...
Can You Have a Hummingbird as a Pet? The Real Answer
Can You Have a Hummingbird as a Pet? The Real Answer
By Nectar Bliss · 11 min read Nobody watches a hummingbird disappear behind the fence and wishes it would just stay in the yard forever without also, somewhere in the... Read more...
A hummingbird perched on a thin branch, the position from which it typically defecates while resting between feeds.
What Does Hummingbird Poop Look Like, and Why So Much?
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A hummingbird perched on a thin branch in a garden A hummingbird drinks something close to its own body weight in nectar every... Read more...
Do Hummingbirds Drink Tree Sap? Yes, Especially in Early Spring
Do Hummingbirds Drink Tree Sap? Yes, Especially in Early Spring
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A hummingbird can arrive at its breeding ground weeks before a single local flower has opened. Our guide to hummingbird migration and guide... Read more...
Do Hummingbirds Pollinate Flowers? Yes, Almost by Accident
Do Hummingbirds Pollinate Flowers? Yes, Almost by Accident
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A hummingbird has no pollen baskets, no sticky electrostatic hairs, no grooming ritual for packing pollen onto its legs. None of a bee's... Read more...
Allen's Hummingbird: Vanishing and Booming at Once
Allen's Hummingbird: Vanishing and Booming at Once
Allen's Hummingbird: Why One Population Is Vanishing While Another Booms Allen's Hummingbird is currently doing two almost opposite things, depending on which population you're watching. Along its true breeding range,... Read more...
Adult male Rufous Hummingbird perched on a branch, showing the coppery-orange back and head and the white breast patch typical of the species
Rufous vs. Allen's Hummingbird: How to Actually Tell Them Apart
By Nectar Bliss · 11 min read Stare at a rust colored hummingbird at a Pacific coast feeder long enough and you will start doubting your own eyes, and that... Read more...
Hummingbird Tattoo Meaning: What It Actually Represents
Hummingbird Tattoo Meaning: What It Actually Represents
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A colorful hummingbird tattoo on a forearm, showing a hummingbird hovering near a small flower A hummingbird is one of the most requested... Read more...
Hummingbird Feet: What They're Actually For (Not Walking)
Hummingbird Feet: What They're Actually For (Not Walking)
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A hummingbird's tiny feet gripping a thin twig perch, close up Yes, hummingbirds have feet, and no, they're not much good for walking.... Read more...
How a Hummingbird's Beak Works, and Why Some Are Changing
How a Hummingbird's Beak Works, and Why Some Are Changing
By Nectar Bliss · 9 min read A hummingbird in profile, showing its long thin bill, hovering near a tubular red flower. A hummingbird's bill looks simple from a distance:... Read more...
How Much Does a Hummingbird Weigh? The Penny Comparison, Checked
How Much Does a Hummingbird Weigh? The Penny Comparison, Checked
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read "A hummingbird weighs less than a penny" shows up constantly online, usually attached to a photo of someone holding one in a banding... Read more...
An Anna's Hummingbird sitting motionless on a feeder perch at night in winter
Do Hummingbirds Sleep Upside Down? Here's Why That's Normal
Do Hummingbirds Sleep Upside Down? Here's Why That's Normal In August 2016, cyclist and blogger Steve Tilford described a hummingbird drifting down onto the floor of his house, wings open.... Read more...
Two hummingbirds in flight close to one another in a forest clearing
Do Hummingbirds Fight to the Death? What Research Shows
Do Hummingbirds Fight to the Death? Watch a feeder for more than a few minutes on a busy summer afternoon and you'll probably see it: two hummingbirds squaring off in... Read more...
A male hummingbird with an orange-red throat perched on the rim of a red nectar feeder
Do Hummingbirds Recognize the Person Who Feeds Them?
Do Hummingbirds Recognize the Person Who Feeds Them? You open the back door with a fresh feeder in hand, and a hummingbird is already there, hovering a few feet away,... Read more...
A hummingbird with a reddish throat hovering as raindrops fall around it
Do Hummingbirds Fly in the Rain? What the Research Shows
By Nectar Bliss · 10 min read Yes, hummingbirds fly in the rain. That part is simple. What's more interesting is that scientists didn't just watch this happen from a... Read more...
A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird perched on a bare twig, its rose-magenta throat patch catching the light and its tail extending past the folded wingtips
Broad-tailed Hummingbird: How to Identify One by Sound Before You See It
Broad-tailed Hummingbird: How to Identify One by Sound Before You See It A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird often gives himself away before he is even visible. In ordinary flight, not just... Read more...
A male Calliope Hummingbird perched against a clear blue sky, magenta streaks radiating down from its white throat
Calliope Hummingbird: Meet the Smallest Bird in the US and Canada
Calliope Hummingbird: Meet the Smallest Bird in the US and Canada At just over three inches long and weighing about as much as a ping-pong ball, the Calliope Hummingbird (Selasphorus... Read more...
Hummingbird Eggs: Size, Incubation, and What to Do If You Find One
Hummingbird Eggs: Size, Incubation, and What to Do If You Find One
By Nectar Bliss · 9 min read A hummingbird egg is genuinely one of the smallest things a bird produces, small enough that most people who find one, or find... Read more...
Do Hummingbirds Eat Fruit? Yes, But Not How You Think
Do Hummingbirds Eat Fruit? Yes, But Not How You Think
By Nectar Bliss · 10 min read A birder cuts an orange in half, sets it near the hummingbird feeder, and by afternoon there are hummingbirds working the area they... Read more...
Hummingbird Myths vs. Facts: What's Actually True
Hummingbird Myths vs. Facts: What's Actually True
By Nectar Bliss · 9 min read Search "hummingbird myths" and most results fall into one of two buckets: spiritual-meaning content about what it means when one visits you, a... Read more...
Adult male Black-chinned Hummingbird hovering against a pale blue sky, showing a black throat with a narrow violet band along its lower edge
Black-Chinned Hummingbird: The Field Marks That Actually Work
Black-Chinned Hummingbird: The Field Marks That Actually Work Adult male Black-chinned Hummingbird in flight, with the black throat and narrow violet lower band visible. Photo by Vickie J. Anderson, CC... Read more...
How Fast Can a Hummingbird Fly? Regular Speed vs. the Dive
How Fast Can a Hummingbird Fly? Regular Speed vs. the Dive
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read "How fast can a hummingbird fly" usually gets one answer online, when it actually has two, and they're not close. A hummingbird crossing... Read more...
Can Hummingbirds Fly Backwards? What the Research Actually Shows
Can Hummingbirds Fly Backwards? What the Research Actually Shows
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read "Hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly backwards" shows up on nearly every hummingbird facts page that exists, stated flatly and left... Read more...
Do Hummingbirds Fly at Night?
Do Hummingbirds Fly at Night?
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A Ruby-throated Hummingbird crossing the Gulf of Mexico spends roughly 18 to 20 hours in the air without landing, and for a real... Read more...
How to Get a Hummingbird Out of Your Garage, Safely
How to Get a Hummingbird Out of Your Garage, Safely
By Nectar Bliss · 9 min read A hummingbird trapped near a garage ceiling, darting from corner to corner and never finding the wide-open door a few feet below, is... Read more...
Rufous Hummingbird: How to Identify One and What It Keeps Getting Mistaken For
Rufous Hummingbird: How to Identify One and What It Keeps Getting Mistaken For
Rufous Hummingbird: How to Identify One and What It Keeps Getting Mistaken For A Rufous Hummingbird's throat is not one fixed color. Depending on the angle of the light, it... Read more...
Anna's Hummingbird: How to Identify That Rose-Pink Head at Your Feeder
Anna's Hummingbird: How to Identify That Rose-Pink Head at Your Feeder
Anna's Hummingbird: How to Identify That Rose-Pink Head at Your Feeder If you just saw a hummingbird outside a window in January and it looked like its whole head was... Read more...
A Hummingbird Hit Your Window: What to Do Right Now
A Hummingbird Hit Your Window: What to Do Right Now
A Hummingbird Hit Your Window: What to Do Right Now The first thing to do when a hummingbird hits your window is almost nothing. Step back, go quiet, and watch... Read more...
How Long Can a Hummingbird Go Without Food?
How Long Can a Hummingbird Go Without Food?
How Long Can a Hummingbird Go Without Food? At full daytime metabolic rate, a hummingbird is only a few hours from real trouble, not days. Stanford University's ornithology reference puts... Read more...
Hummingbirds in Texas: A Region-by-Region Guide to Who Shows Up and When
Hummingbirds in Texas: A Region-by-Region Guide to Who Shows Up and When
Hummingbirds in Texas: A Region-by-Region Guide to Who Shows Up and When One hummingbird species nests regularly in Texas and never fully leaves. Every other species Texans see, and there... Read more...
When Are Hummingbirds Most Active? Dawn, Dusk, and the Biology Behind Both
When Are Hummingbirds Most Active? Dawn, Dusk, and the Biology Behind Both
When Are Hummingbirds Most Active? Dawn, Dusk, and the Biology Behind Both About an hour before sunrise, a hummingbird that spent the night in torpor is already stirring, its heart... Read more...
Do Hummingbirds Use Bird Baths? Not the Way You'd Think
Do Hummingbirds Use Bird Baths? Not the Way You'd Think
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A bird bath that draws robins and sparrows all day can sit completely ignored by the hummingbirds visiting the same yard, and it's... Read more...
When a Hummingbird Needs Help (and When It's Just Resting)
When a Hummingbird Needs Help (and When It's Just Resting)
By Nectar Bliss · 9 min read A hummingbird perched motionless on a thin branch at dawn, eyes closed and feathers slightly puffed. This is specifically about an adult hummingbird... Read more...
Does a Hummingbird House Actually Work? What to Do Instead
Does a Hummingbird House Actually Work? What to Do Instead
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read Search for a hummingbird house and dozens of small wooden and resin structures show up, sized for a single tiny bird, sold with... Read more...
How to Design a Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden
How to Design a Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden
By Nectar Bliss · 11 min read A yard planted with every flower on a "pollinator friendly" tag can pull in hummingbirds all summer and still produce zero new butterflies... Read more...
Hummingbird Sage: The Shade-Loving Native That Blooms Before Spring Fully Arrives
Hummingbird Sage: The Shade-Loving Native That Blooms Before Spring Fully Arrives
Hummingbird Sage: The Shade-Loving Native That Blooms Before Spring Fully Arrives Most plants sold to attract hummingbirds want six or more hours of direct sun and don't open a flower... Read more...
Hummingbird Mint (Agastache): The Low-Maintenance Way to Keep Hummingbirds Coming All Summer
Hummingbird Mint (Agastache): The Low-Maintenance Way to Keep Hummingbirds Coming All Summer
Hummingbird Mint (Agastache): The Low-Maintenance Way to Keep Hummingbirds Coming All Summer One of the plants nurseries sell as "hummingbird mint" isn't from a rain-soaked prairie at all. Agastache rupestris... Read more...
Why Are Hummingbird Feeders Red?
Why Are Hummingbird Feeders Red?
Why Are Hummingbird Feeders Red? Cornell Lab ornithologists have already settled the practical version of this question. According to the Lab's All About Birds, a feeder's own molded red parts... Read more...
How Often Do Hummingbirds Eat?
How Often Do Hummingbirds Eat?
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read A hummingbird doesn't really eat meals the way a person or even most other birds do. There's no morning feeding and evening feeding... Read more...
Two hummingbirds hovering over a garden bed of mixed flowering plants
Best Hummingbird Plants for Nectar All Season
By Nectar Bliss · 9 min read A hummingbird hovering over a garden bed of mixed flowering plants. A bed of red annuals goes in every spring, blooms hard for... Read more...
A hummingbird hovering beside a red plastic nectar feeder
Hummingbird Feeder With a Camera: Is It Actually Worth It?
Hummingbird Feeder With a Camera: Is It Actually Worth It? The camera in a $180 Bird Buddy Hummingbird Feeder shuts off for ten minutes after every recording, whether the hummingbird... Read more...
Squirrel-Proof Hummingbird Feeders: What Actually Works (and What Doesn't)
Squirrel-Proof Hummingbird Feeders: What Actually Works (and What Doesn't)
Squirrel-Proof Hummingbird Feeders: What Actually Works (and What Doesn't) Type "squirrel proof hummingbird feeder" into a search bar and most of what comes back assumes the squirrel wants the nectar.... Read more...
Ant Moats for Hummingbird Feeders: How They Work and How to Use One Right
Ant Moats for Hummingbird Feeders: How They Work and How to Use One Right
Ant Moats for Hummingbird Feeders: How They Work and How to Use One Right Most ant advice for a hummingbird feeder banks on ants not liking something: a smell, a... Read more...
How Many Hummingbirds Per Feeder? What the Port Count Doesn't Tell You
How Many Hummingbirds Per Feeder? What the Port Count Doesn't Tell You
How Many Hummingbirds Per Feeder? What the Port Count Doesn't Tell You An eight-port feeder does not promise eight birds. In most yards it delivers exactly one: a single male... Read more...
Where to Hang a Hummingbird Feeder (and 3 Spots to Avoid)
Where to Hang a Hummingbird Feeder (and 3 Spots to Avoid)
By Nectar Bliss · 9 min read Most placement advice online says the same three things: near flowers, somewhere shady, somewhere you can see it. All true, and none of... Read more...
How to Keep Wasps Away From a Hummingbird Feeder
How to Keep Wasps Away From a Hummingbird Feeder
How to Keep Wasps Away From a Hummingbird Feeder A honeybee that muscles onto a hummingbird feeder is a nuisance. A yellowjacket doing the same thing carries a weapon it... Read more...
Hummingbird Feeder Winter Care: Keeping Nectar From Freezing
Hummingbird Feeder Winter Care: Keeping Nectar From Freezing
By Nectar Bliss · 10 min read If you've already decided not to take your hummingbird feeder down for the winter, whether you're in the Pacific Northwest, coastal Oregon and... Read more...
When to Stop Feeding Hummingbirds: Why Rushing Is the Bigger Mistake
When to Stop Feeding Hummingbirds: Why Rushing Is the Bigger Mistake
By Nectar Bliss · 8 min read Every fall, the same worry shows up in birding forums: take the feeder down too late, and somehow the hummingbirds won't leave. It's... Read more...
Why Did My Hummingbirds Stop Coming to My Feeder?
Why Did My Hummingbirds Stop Coming to My Feeder?
By Nectar Bliss · 11 min read One day the feeder had a line at every port. The next, nothing. If your hummingbirds seem to have all of a sudden... Read more...