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Ruby-throated Hummingbird — printable fact sheet
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Animal Fact Sheet
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Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
The ruby-throated hummingbird runs an engine almost no other vertebrate could survive. Its heart can exceed a thousand beats a minute in flight, and it burns energy so fast that it would starve overnight — so every night it enters torpor, dropping its body temperature and slowin…
Did you know?
- Despite their tiny size, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds can migrate nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico, flying over 800 kilometers without resting.
- It powers down into torpor every night, slowing its heart to a fraction of its daytime rate, because otherwise it would starve before morning. Its wing generates lift on both the forward and the backward stroke, which is why it can hover and fly backwards. It crosses the Gulf of Mexico non-stop after nearly doubling its body weight in fat. Its red throat is structural colour, not pigment, which is why it flashes and disappears as it turns.
What I learned
Draw the ruby-throated hummingbird
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