Hummingbird facts are among the most-repeated and least-checked figures on the internet. Wingbeat rates, heart rates, and tongue speeds get copied from site to site until the numbers drift a long way from anything a researcher measured.

What follows is a shorter list than most, because everything on it holds up. Where the science gives a range rather than a single number, the range is what appears here. Each fact links to the article on this site that covers it properly, and there is a section at the end on the widely repeated “facts” that turn out not to be true.

Flight

Hummingbirds beat their wings roughly 50 to 80 times a second while hovering. Smaller species beat faster than larger ones. Some species reach considerably higher rates during courtship dives.

They generate lift on both the downstroke and the upstroke. Almost all other birds get lift only on the downstroke. This is what makes sustained hovering possible, and it is why the wing rotates almost 180 degrees at the shoulder. See the article on how hummingbirds hover.

Flight muscles make up roughly a quarter to a third of a hummingbird’s body mass, compared with around 15 percent in a typical bird.

They are the only birds capable of sustained backward flight. They can also fly straight up, straight down, and sideways. See the article how hummingbirds differ from other birds.

In level flight, an Anna’s Hummingbird reaches about 33 miles per hour. The often-quoted 50-plus mph figure belongs to the male’s courtship dive, not to ordinary flight, and certainly not to escaping predators. See the article hummingbird predators and defences.

Hummingbirds cannot walk or hop. Their feet are built for perching and scratching, and a perched bird can shuffle sideways along a twig, but it cannot walk.

The Engine

A hummingbird’s heart can beat over 1,200 times a minute in active flight, and slows dramatically in torpor.

At rest, a hummingbird breathes roughly 250 times a minute.

They have among the highest mass-specific metabolic rates of any warm-blooded animal. Only insects run hotter for their size.

Each night, most hummingbirds enter torpor, a deep dormancy in which body temperature and metabolism fall for hours. A Broad-tailed Hummingbird can hold its body temperature near 54°F while the air around it drops below 44°F. See the article on how hummingbirds survive winter.

A hummingbird wakes from torpor with almost no fuel in reserve, which is why feeders are busiest in the first minutes of daylight. Read more about where and how hummingbirds sleep.

Feeding

Nectar is only half the diet. Hummingbirds also hunt small insects and spiders for protein, fats, and amino acids that nectar cannot supply. A bird fed only sugar water would starve of everything except energy. See the article on what hummingbirds eat.

A hummingbird’s tongue is forked and fringed, and it works as a tiny pump rather than a straw.

They lap nectar roughly 13 to 20 times a second, with measured rates varying by study and species.

Given the choice, hummingbirds prefer nectar with around 20 to 25 percent sugar, which is why the standard feeder recipe of one part white sugar to four parts water suits them. Learn more about the hummingbird nectar recipe.

They drink tree sap too, following sapsuckers to the wells those woodpeckers drill, which matters most in early spring before flowers open.

Hummingbird Facts: Size

The Bee Hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird alive, at roughly 2 grams and about 6 centimetres.

The Giant Hummingbird of the Andes weighs about 24 grams and 22 centimetres, roughly twelve times the Bee Hummingbird’s weight. Read the article about the world’s smallest hummingbird versus the largest.

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird weighs about 3 grams, less than a US nickel.

The Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the United States, and it still migrates thousands of miles.

Migration

Many Ruby-throated Hummingbirds cross the Gulf of Mexico nonstop, roughly 500 miles of open water in a single flight lasting close to 20 hours. See the article on the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Rufous Hummingbirds breed into southeast Alaska, the northernmost hummingbird breeding range in the world, and may travel around 4,000 miles in one direction. See the article on the Rufous Hummingbird.

Hummingbirds put on substantial fat before migrating. Published estimates of how much vary considerably by species and study.

Migration is triggered by day length, not by food supply. A feeder left up in autumn cannot delay a hummingbird’s departure. Learn when to put out and take down feeders.

Life and Breeding

Most wild hummingbirds live three to five years, though the majority die within their first year. The North American longevity record belongs to a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird known to have lived at least 12 years and 2 months. Read more about how long hummingbirds live.

Females do all the work. In every hummingbird species, the female alone builds the nest, incubates, and feeds the young. Males form no pair bond and provide no care.

Nests are bound with spider silk, which anchors the cup and stretches as the chicks grow, and are camouflaged on the outside with lichen. A typical clutch is two eggs. See the article on how hummingbirds mate and nest.

Colour and Senses

Gorget colour is structural, not pigment. The iridescence comes from light interacting with microscopic layers in the feathers, which is why a brilliant throat looks black from the wrong angle. Find out why hummingbirds are so colourful.

Hummingbirds see colours humans cannot. They perceive ultraviolet and can distinguish colour combinations outside human experience. Learn more about what colours hummingbirds can see.

Some display sounds are made by feathers rather than voices. The chirp at the bottom of an Anna’s dive comes from its tail, and the ringing trill of a male Broad-tailed comes from its wingtips. Read the article on hummingbird sounds and territorial behaviour.

Range and Diversity

Hummingbirds live only in the Americas. Around 360 species exist; none of them are native to any other continent. Also, find out why there are no hummingbirds in Hawaii.

About 14 species occur regularly in the United States and Canada, with roughly two dozen more recorded as rare strays. Read the article on hummingbird species in North America.

Five “Facts” That Are Not True

“Hummingbirds sleep upside down.” They usually sleep upright, gripping a twig. Hanging happens when a bird slips on a smooth perch or relaxes completely in deep torpor, but it is not the normal posture.

“Hummingbirds suck nectar through their bills like straws.” The tongue works as a pump, trapping nectar and drawing it in. Older accounts attributing it to capillary action have been superseded.

“Leaving your feeder up will stop hummingbirds migrating.” It will not. This was disproved decades ago by banders working the Gulf Coast. Learn more about threats to hummingbirds and how to help. (Internal link to the threats page.)

“Hummingbirds ride on the backs of geese during migration.” A persistent piece of folklore with no basis. They fly the whole way themselves.

“Red dye makes nectar more attractive.” The red on the feeder is what draws them. Dye adds nothing and its safety for hummingbirds has never been established.

A Note on Hummingbird Numbers

If you compare this page with others, you will find figures that disagree. Some of that is genuine biological variation between species and individuals. Some of it is measurement difficulty, since these are small, fast animals. And some is simple copying, where a number is repeated so widely that it stops being checked.

Where sources conflicted here, the page gives a range or omits the figure. A fact that cannot be pinned down is more honestly left out than stated precisely and wrongly.