Interesting facts on what hummingbirds eat

[HelenB]

"This Week at Hilton Pond" has a very interesting article about hummingbird nutrition. Many people think that they just feed on nectar from flowers or the sugar water in feeders that we all like to put out for them - not true!

Here's the webpage URL:

http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040808.html (http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040808.html)

[Chris D]

Anna's females eat ash at my house from early January through March. I know they're nesting. Great stuff. They hover in front of piles I've deposited from my wood stove and dip their bills.

[shelley810]

"This Week at Hilton Pond" has a very interesting article about hummingbird nutrition. Many people think that they just feed on nectar from flowers or the sugar water in feeders that we all like to put out for them - not true!

Here's the webpage URL:

http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040808.html (http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek040808.html)

Interesting article Helen! Actually, interesting way of inspecting what that little guy's latest supper was! During the heat of the summer here in Minnesota, I noticed that necter consumption drops to virtually nil at my feeders, yet on occaision I see a hummer skimming the branches of trees, doing a great job of sweeping up those white flys.
I cute little book that is a quick read and a true story is called
"A Hummingbird in My House" by
Arnette Heidcamp
All Hummingbird lovers will get a warm fuzzy reading this.
Shelley

[stephennj]

Thanks for posting this Helen! It was nice reading

[HelenB]

Thanks for posting this Helen! It was nice reading
Hi Stephen,
When I first got interested in hummers, back in the late 80's when we moved to Los Angeles, I thought that they lived on nectar alone! I found out that they need insects when I went to a lecture on gardening for hummers about 10 years ago. The Rufouses that winter in my yard actually hawk insects like the phoebes or pewees do!

Glad you enjoyed it.

[HelenB]

Anna's females eat ash at my house from early January through March. I know they're nesting. Great stuff. They hover in front of piles I've deposited from my wood stove and dip their bills.
Chris - that is a very unusual behaviour. Would you mind if I post your observation on the Humnet forum, and see if any of the hummer experts can explain why they would do that?

[Chris D]

Chris - that is a very unusual behaviour. Would you mind if I post your observation on the Humnet forum, and see if any of the hummer experts can explain why they would do that?


Please do. Anna's nest in the winter and spring where I live. I've never seen an obvious male dipping his bill into ash. My guess is that it's females. This has gone on every year for the past 11. I burn almond wood in a wood stove. The ash has nothing else in it.

[humminbird]

Helen and Chris:
Anna's also nest in Texas (three records - two from El Paso and one from Fort Davis all in the December - February time frame). I have not heard of them eating ash, but it makes perfect sense as a means of providing nutrients to help harden the egg shell. Bet it is almost exclusively females Chris.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[HelenB]

Helen and Chris:
Anna's also nest in Texas (three records - two from El Paso and one from Fort Davis all in the December - February time frame). I have not heard of them eating ash, but it makes perfect sense as a means of providing nutrients to help harden the egg shell. Bet it is almost exclusively females Chris.

Mark
Bastrop, TXMark and Chris,
I did post this topic on Humnet and had the following reply from a hummingbird expert at the SE Arizona Bird Observatory:

"Hi, Helen and all. You're absolutely right: Females are particularly interested in wood ash because it's rich in the minerals they need for eggshell production. This behavior was documented in:

des Lauriers, James R. 1994. Hummingbirds eating ashes. Auk 111(3):755-756.

Worrier that I am, I feel compelled to mention that ashes from charcoal briquets, artificial fireplace logs, newspapers used as tinder, and pretty much anything other than natural wood could be hazardous to the birds' health."

So I'm pleased to hear that your ashes are pure almond wood, Chris!

[Chris D]

Dear Helen, Thanks so much for looking this up. Friends visiting us during the time that this behavior takes place are always amazed, be they birders or not. Precious birds, these hummers. I feel quite fortunate to live with them. From seeing strange exotics in South America to Rufous migrating south through "Gun Sight" passes at 12,000 feet in the Sierra............... there's just something about having a species as a resident that tickles me to the core. Thanks again...... Chris

[MBP]

I just got the idea to look up what can be found about hummingbirds in the scientific literature, and I found this article about how hummingbirds were able to adapt to both nectar sipping and insect capture, which both require very different bills. I hope it is available for everybody without subscription, because it also has a short video sequence as supplemental information with a flying hummingbird opening his bill, probably to catch an insect.

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v428/n6983/full/428615a_fs.html

[humminbird]

I just got the idea to look up what can be found about hummingbirds in the scientific literature, and I found this article about how hummingbirds were able to adapt to both nectar sipping and insect capture, which both require very different bills. I hope it is available for everybody without subscription, because it also has a short video sequence as supplemental information with a flying hummingbird opening his bill, probably to catch an insect.

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v428/n6983/full/428615a_fs.html


This site is apparently a members only site since it opens to a login page, but hummingbirds eating insects has been well documented for years, as is their ability to open their bill. The use of the tongue to lap nectar is no different than a dog lapping water so I don't see what the big excitement would be about. Nature must have been short on papers that edition.

[MBP]

This site is apparently a members only site since it opens to a login page
I am awfully sorry about that, I could not determine from my account if it needs subscription. Well, the new thing about this article was that the authors showed that hummingbirds can, unlike all other known birds, bend the lower jaw (mandible, which is usually fixed, while the flexible upper jaw opens the bill) itself to widen the gape. This flexibility comprises the new finding of this brief communication. I do not think nature is running out of papers...
I thought it might be interesting to others. Sorry to have bothered you. |:(|

Sincerely, Marcella

[Chris D]

No bother. Tis' the season at my place when I have these fun little swarms of tiny gnats. Anna's dart in and out grabbing individuals. Through binoculars it's amazing.

[humminbird]

No bother indeed Marcella. Wish I could have seen the article now! That would be an interesting read. So often we hear of people being surprised that these guys can open their bills or that they are insectivorous. I thought that is what they were pointing to and wondering what Nature would be thinking was new there. Then again, just a year or so ago Smithsonian published a paper that claimed it would not be possible to band hummingbirds! I guess no one told the Bird Banding Laboratory that though!

[Missy]

I didn't realize that they ingested anything but nectar until a few months ago. I have 2 permanent hummingbirds and noticed that one will fly just above my orange tree, bobbing up and down for a minute or two each evening eating things. The other flies in and out of the Palo Verde tree catching little flying things.

[humminbird]

I didn't realize that they ingested anything but nectar until a few months ago. I have 2 permanent hummingbirds and noticed that one will fly just above my orange tree, bobbing up and down for a minute or two each evening eating things. The other flies in and out of the Palo Verde tree catching little flying things.

The fact that they eat insects often surprises people Missy, but what I try to do to illustrate the logic of the matter is get people to picture the biggest football player they can think of waving his arms up and down as fast as he can and not eating anything but sugar water. How long do you think he would be able to do that before his deltoid and bicept muscles began to break down? The hummingbird needs protein to rebuild muscle just like we do. The insects are that protein source.

Mark
Bastrop, TX

[wings]

[QUOTE=HelenB]Mark and Chris,
I did post this topic on Humnet and had the following reply from a hummingbird expert at the SE Arizona Bird Observatory:

"Hi, Helen and all. You're absolutely right: Females are particularly interested in wood ash because it's rich in the minerals they need for eggshell production. This behavior was documented in:

des Lauriers, James R. 1994. Hummingbirds eating ashes. Auk 111(3):755-756.
____________

Ash contains the mineral potash. I've used ash to supplement fertilize some of my garden plants and fruit trees. Smart hummers, them :clap: