Hummingbirds

Humming birds are small brightly colored birds. Their name comes from the sound that their wing-beat makes when flapped 80 times in one second. They are able to fly: left , right , forwards , backwards and even upside down. They can also hover by flapping their wings in  a figure of 8. Their beak is very long designed for taking nectar from tubular flowers.

They normally eat nectar , pollen and tree sap as well as insects. Their fast breathing rate, fast heartbeat and high body temperature requires these birds to eat frequently. They have a long tongue which they use to lick the nectar at a rate of up to 13 licks per second.

Humming birds are found in the tropics , southern Chile and southeastern Alaska. There are more than 300 different types of hummingbirds. 12 of them spend the summer in North America and spend the winter in the tropics.
(South Eastern Alaska)  (Southern Chile)

These birds are very territorial and will chase each other and even larger birds such as hawks away from their territories. Hummingbirds eggs incubate for 13-22 days and they lay 1 to 3 eggs. The young start to fly from 18-30 days.
(Humming Bird eggs)

In the past they were hunted for their feathers however today they face threats of a different kind. Each type of hummingbird listed under the endangered IUCN red list are all threatened by habitat loss and destruction. Climate change affects the earths temperature , this affects migratory routes causing hummingbirds to end up in places where it is harder for them to find food.