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NATIONAL
HUMMINGBIRD DAY
The first Saturday of
September has been designated as National Hummingbird Day.
These small birds have long been the focus of fascination of
scientists as well as children.
There are 308 different species of
Hummingbirds, one of the largest bird families.
Their tiny size is always a curiosity. It
would take 83 newborn broad-tailed hummingbirds to weight an
ounce. Ruby-throated hummingbirds weight less than one-tenth of
an ounce.
We often see crows hopping on the driveway,
or robins in the garden looking for food, but you will almost
never see a hummingbird walk. Most hummingbirds do not walk, but
they certainly do fly. In fact, most will visit up to 1,000
flowers each day.
Speaking of looking for food, These small
birds often consume more than half their total body weight in
food and drink eight times their weight in water per day.
September signals the
early days of fall weather. But cold temperatures may not be
fatal to Hummingbirds. They are able to put themselves into a
temporarily dormant state of mental or physical inactivity. This
condition is known as torpor.
Here is another interesting fact about these
small birds: Hummingbirds have the fewest total feathers of all
birds, often less than 1000.
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