Hummingbirds are some of the smallest warm-blooded creatures on the planet. As a result of their tiny existence, hummingbird adaptations and physiology are unique and remarkable. For example, according to Jeanna Bryner at LiveScience.com, “Hummingbirds have the highest energy expenditure of any warm-blooded animal, with a heart rate of up to 500 beat-per-minute, blindingly fast wing beats and sustained hovering. So this bird is nearly always on the edge of starvation, needing to slurp up more than its body weight in nectar each day.” Since hummingbirds are susceptible to starvation, they “generally enter torpor when unable to consume enough energy.”

Despite their hardiness, hummingbirds are sensitive to environmental degradation and loss of habitat. For example, the mangrove hummingbird (Amazilia boucardi)—a mangrove specialist as its common name suggests—is endangered due to development and pollution. The unique hummingbird’s population is decreasing and fewer than 10,000 individuals remain.

If you want to learn more about hummingbirds, I recommend “Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air,” which was aired by PBS’s ‘Nature.’ You can watch the full episode below or at PBS’ “Nature”:

One of my favorite snippets from “Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air” explored the “hummingbird’s aerial agility.” Via PBS on YouTube:

Biologist Doug Altshuler has turned his lab into a kind of hummingbird training center, where he can test the limits of their aerial agility. The key, he says, is hovering.

More about hummingbirds from Science Daily:

1. Long, Sexy Tails Not A Drag On Male Birds
2. Hummingbird ‘Tag’ Suggests Fragmentation May Be Part Of Pollination Crisis
3. Sierra Nevada Birds Move In Response To Warmer, Wetter Climate

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