Learn all about hummingbirds in the June Wildlife Express

One of the finest indications that summer has arrived is the presence of a hummingbird. Of the 340 species found in the world (19 in the U.S.), there are five species that make their home in Idaho, and there’s no greater time of year to observe their stunning adaptations.

Whether your outdoors is in the backcountry or the backyard, chances of spotting a hovering hummingbird are pretty likely this time of year, despite their tea-cup size. Idaho is home to rufous, calliope, broad-tailed, black-chinned and occasionally, Anna’s hummingbirds. All are roughly 4 inches long and have one of the highest metabolisms in the animal world.

Hummingbirds are just built different, like a bird crossed with a honeybee. With a resting heart rate of almost 1,000 beats per minute, a hummingbird uses its specially designed wings to hover over nectar-bearing flowers.

Big deal. Insects and pollinators do that, too. True, but what sets a hummingbird apart is its ability to hover in midair and even fly backwards. This ability allows the hummingbird to feed beneath a down-turned flower, whereas an insect or other pollinator would need a landing surface. Its wings, beating at 70-80 times per second in a figure-eight movement, act as oars to help it maneuver in close to food sources. 

Hummingbird Facts

• The largest hummingbird in the world — called, surprisingly, the giant hummingbird — can be up to 9 inches long and lives solely in South America.
• Hummingbirds breathe 250 times per minute.
• A human would need to eat twice its weight in food every day to keep up with a hummingbird’s metabolism. As a result, a human’s body temperature would flare up to 752 degrees. 
• Due to their lack of protection from the cold, hummingbirds go into a nighttime hibernation, called torpor, as their metabolism slows. 
• Andean swordbills, a type of hummingbird found in Columbia, have 4 ½-inch long beaks. 
• Hummingbirds have the largest brain size of any bird compared to its body. 
• When a hummingbird eats, its tongue tips separate and the lamellae extend outward. As the bird pulls its tongue back inside its beak, the tips come together and the lamellae roll up. This traps the nectar.

Interested in learning even more cool facts about hummingbirds and other species? Go check out Fish and Game’s monthly newsletter for kids, Wildlife Express, and brush up on all sorts of cool information about Idaho’s wildlife.