Complexities of Hummingbirds

My mother’s favorite birds are parrots and hummingbirds. Since she was very young, those two birds have always fascinated her; especially the hummingbird with its quickness and movement that seem to bend many laws of physics. When I last spoke with my mother, she wanted me to explore the crazy uniqueness of the hummingbird. I told her that I would research and explore the magic of the hummingbird, but that trying to capture its brilliance would be incomplete.

 

As I began my research, I came across creation myth by the Hopi and Zuni tribe about a brother and sister who are starving because of a drought and famine. The brother carves out a piece of wood into a bird to entertain his sister. When his sister tosses the bird into the air, it comes alive, turning into a hummingbird. It flies to the God of Fertility and begs for rain, and its request is given. It rains and crops begin to grow once again.

 

On a biological level, males tend to be smaller than females. Their heart rates can reach up to 1,260 beats per minute (bpm) and flap their wings faster than any other bird. During flight, oxygen consumption is about 10 times higher than what’s measured in an elite athlete and extremely rare in their ability to consume and process glucose. In comparison, human athletes maximize their intake of glucose use at around 30% cwhile hummingbirds make use of 100% of the sugars they intake. If we were able to maximize the use glucose like the hummingbird, we would be quicker and much more enduring athletes. 

 

For an animal with such speed and high metabolisms, it’s very strange that they live as long as they do. Although some die in their first few years of life, those that survive can occasionally live to ten (10) years or more. But among the better-known North American species, the typical lifespan for hummingbirds is 3 to 5 years.

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