Tiny Marvels

As I gaze out the window behind my computer, a male Costa’s hummingbird feasts at a feeder only about a yard away from me. I pause to marvel and enjoy the visit of this little winged jewel. I’ve written about hummingbirds before, but they are so amazing they deserve another blog. And it seemed appropriate to transition from one year to the next with beauty, even if it is tiny.

A few facts merit review. Arizona boasts the highest number of hummingbird species (17) that either reside or migrate through any state. These tiny creatures collect and use spider webs as the glue or binding to hold together their half-a-golf-ball-sized nest, into which the female lays and incubates two tic-tac sized eggs, while the male defends their food source. If conditions are right, and food sources plentiful, they may nest more than once a season. The average lifespan of a hummer is 3 to 5 years, though some have lived up to 12. Arctic Terns have the lowest migration of any bird on earth, 55,723 miles from the Arctic to Antarctic and back annually. But the tiny hummers routinely travel up to 1,000. An epic journey for something so small.

Hummers survive on nectar and small insects. We humans require quite a bit more. For fun, let’s do a weight and caloric comparison. Checking out a number of internet medical sites, I found that the average weight of an American woman is 170.8 pounds, while the average male weights in at around 199.8 pounds. To maintain this, women must consume some 1,600 to 2,000 calories a day, men 2,000 to 3,000. Hummingbirds, the smallest of the bird species, weigh about as much as a single marshmallow (0.1 to 0.2 ounces). To maintain their weight they must consume 6 to 8 calories a day. Doesn’t seem like much, till you compare body weight to required caloric intake to maintain. If a hummingbird was human-sized, it would require 155,000 calories daily.  Imagine what we’d look like if that was our daily calorie consumption.

So why don’t hummingbirds look like grotesque blimps? The simple answer, metabolism and energy usage. We humans have an average heart rate of around 60 to 100 beats a minute. A hummingbird known as the Rivoli’s Magnificent has a heat beat of 420 to 1,200 beats per minute. Or how about flapping my arms versus wings. I maybe can get a few flaps in per second, but could not maintain that incessantly throughout the day as hummingbirds do.

And, to date, I never yet have (except in my dreams) been able to flap hard enough to lift off.  Hummingbirds can pull off up to 62 wing cycles per second, lift off, fly forward or backwards, and maintain that for hours on end.

The more we learn about these tiniest of avian creatures, the more we are amazed. The first helicopter lifted off in 1907, but it wasn’t till 1939 that the first practical helicopter came on line.

Hummingbirds were self-propelling, hovering and zipping around some 47 million years ago.  The average civilian helicopter is rated to fly at speeds of 95 to 160 miles per hour, and depending on the make and model and can cover 250 to 400 miles on one tank of gas. On one fill-up of nectar, a hummingbird can cross the Gulf of Mexico, 500 miles non-stop. The flight speed of these tiny birds averages around 30 miles per hour, though they can open up to 60, and during mating season show-off dives hit 90 mph. The fastest human on earth, Usain Bolt, set our top speed in 2009, with his blistering run clocked at 27.8 miles per hour.

Rotor speeds on civilian helicopters are typically 4 to 8 spins per second, depending on the make. That factors out to between 250 to 500 rotations per minute. Hummingbirds wings flutter at 80 beats per second. But it is not in the flapping motion of other birds, but a unique figure 8 rotation, which enables them alone of all bird species to instantly accelerate forward, backward, or just hover in place.

What is a hummingbird worth? It is, of course, illegal to buy or sell hummingbirds. And if caught and convicted of same one can incur fines ranging from $15,000 to $200,000 per bird.

So, for comparison sake let’s say the base-line value of one of these little beauties starts at $200,000. You may think that exorbitant. But is it? What does a man-made helicopter cost? The Airbus H 125, popular for utility work, emergency medical service and law enforcement, costs about $3,000,000. A Bell 429 Global Ranger, or the Leonardo AW109 Trekker, both popular for medical transports, search & rescue, and VIP transport, cost between $7,000,000 and $7,500,000. A Sikorsky, favored for off-shore operations and multiple passenger capabilities will run about $12,500,000. Military helicopters run from around $50,000,000 to a high of $95,000,000. Surely, no hummingbird could every match that. But I suggest a hummingbird’s value exceeds that.

When we look to its worth, we must factor how they support us, nutritionally and psychologically. All farming, and thus our lives, depend on plant pollination. We tend to think of insects and bats as prime pollinators. But they are far from alone.To reach their daily caloric need, hummingbirds must visit some 1,800 flowers. Hummingbirds feed up to 8 times per hour, so cover a lot of ground and plants. And in this nectar gathering, pollen is transferred onto the feathers of the intruding bird, and spread, pollinating some 8,000 plant varieties in North and South America. So a hummingbird’s botanical contribution is immense, incomprehensible. With rapid die-offs worldwide of bees, the Chinese and other nations have increasingly had to resort to labor-intensive, by-human-hand (pollen applied by feather to individual fruit blossoms) orchard pollination. Even with cheap labor this runs upwards of $500 to $1000 per acre. Hummingbirds, like their insect counterparts, do that service for free. And as species worldwide decline, the function and contribution of what remains is magnified. By its labors, a tiny bird helps feed the world, its value translated into crops, fiscally in the billions fiscally.

But to me, hummers fill a deer psychic need. Naturalist and writer Henry David Thoreau in his 1862 essay entitled Walking, keenly deduced that, “in wilderness is the preservation of the world.” Hummingbirds are a priceless little piece of that wild. There pulsing iridescent beauty rivaling, and I would hold surpassing, that of inert mineral jewels, like emerald or rubies. In 2023, the worlds largest ruby, known as the Estrella de Fora, sold for $34.8 million. The Bahia Emerald is valued at $400 million. But here’s the clincher, these priceless minerals are locked up, and can be enjoyed by only a few. Their living counterparts range free, flash before all, a free gift to be enjoyed and treasured.

We can say “thank you,” and pass on this blessing, by planting tubular blooms favored by hummingbirds. Az. Dept. of Fish & Game is a good site on line for the best plants. Many other internet sites also offer suggestions. It helps to plant flora hummingbirds recognize and already use. And avoid pesticide use in all your plant-scapes. Supplemental feeders are a good backup to the flowers. A mix of one part sugar to four of boiled water works well. Again, multiple sites will give you more specifics on placement, cleaning of feeders, etc.

Anthony dela Torre
Author