12 Jul Little Big Bird | Jul 2016

Meet the Little Big Bird

Allen’s Hummingbird, Male

The Allen’s Hummingbird Is a Little Big Bird

Certainly, it’s little: About 3.75 inches (9.5 cm) long. And it weighs only about 0.11 ounce (3 gm).

Imagine, this bird weighs less than two-thirds of a teaspoon of water (US and UK, half a teaspoon in Australia).

And yet, it’s a complete living bird with a heart, lungs, digestive system, and everything else that it needs to live.

It even has a pancreas. (Of course, it’s small.)

But it’s big in some very special ways.

It flies at big speeds of about 30 mph (48 kph).

So it can zip across your yard in a second [assuming your yard is 44 feet wide (13 m)].

Allen’s Hummingbird, Female

It has a big appetite.

Normally, it eats twice its body weight in nectar each day.

And it also eats bugs, which make up about 10% of its diet.

If you were to count, 0.6 grams adds up to a really big number of tiny bugs.

Since it digests such a big volume of food, it’s especially sensitive to toxins. For example, even trace amounts of pesticides can be fatal.

So if you keep a hummingbird feeder, please avoid adding anything extra to the sugar water. Never add dyes, flavors, vitamins, preservatives, perfumes, or artificial sweeteners.

Recognize that these are wild birds, not people.

Just use a mix of one fourth cup cane sugar and 1 cup water. (Never use brown sugar or honey.)

Since its food supply is so important, it can be a big bully in protecting its habitat.

A hummingbird can be a big help, too. By visiting flowers, it helps pollinate them.

So the next time you see a hummingbird, call out, “Hello, little big bird.”

Much success,

Steve Kaye

PS: See more photos of hummingbirds at:

Hummingbird Photos

Odd Quirk in Bird Photography

The Bird with a Million Faces

Signs of Spring

Uncommon Hummingbird Photos

No Content, Just Photos

Help Birds Tip

Avoid garden chemicals

Why #1: Garden chemicals poison birds when they eat (or even contact) treated plants, seeds, and bugs.

Why #2: Garden chemicals also make people sick. Unfortunately, this happens a long time (sometimes decades) after contacting these chemicals.

Here’s an article that tells more: See Pest Control Chemicals

Did You Know?

The most effective way to help birds is to buy land.

Here are three organizations that excel at doing this.

1) American Bird Conservancy

2) The Nature Conservancy

3) The Trust for Public Land

Please visit their web sites to learn about the work they do.

Here’s an excellent book: The American Bird Conservancy Guide to Bird Conservation

You can help – Please share this blog with others.

Inspiring Respect for Nature, one bird at a time.

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