Earth Day was Monday, April 22, but it was celebrated early by two hummingbirds in Saluda.
John Page was working in his garage last week when he heard a thump and then buzzing. He looked and two hummingbirds were lying on the floor.
He used a dust pan to gently scoop them up. “As soon as I picked up the female she got up and flew off,” he said.
The male, which is the one pictured, took a few minutes to get himself together. “I tried to set him on a board but he wouldn’t let go of my finger. Finally, he got straight and flew off.
I felt a whole lot better!”
Page explained that he had the garage door up about three feet to keep hummingbirds from flying inside. “I have had them fly inside and they can’t figure out how to get out.”
According to the Adirondack Council:
- Some hummingbirds migrate more than 2,000 miles twice a year, wintering in Central America or Mexico and migrating north to breeding grounds in the United States and Canada in late winter and early spring.
- Hummingbirds have a high metabolism and must eat half their body weight every 15 minutes. Besides flower nectar and sugar water from feeders, they eat small insects including mosquitoes and gnats.
- Hummingbirds can go in a deep-sleep state called “torpor” where their metabolism slows to a minimum and a low body temperature is maintained. In this way they survive when conditions do not allow them to maintain a normal 105 degree body temperature.
- A hummingbird’s brain is 4.2% of its body, which proportionally is the largest of any bird.
