Students may make a feeder to attract hummingbirds. A hummingbird eats about half of its body weight in sugar daily and may have a meal up to every ten minutes! Female Rufous Hummingbird feeding in slow motion To get enough food, a hummingbird has to eat a lot quickly, they may feed at a rate of 3-13 laps a second. These birds require frequent feeding while active during the day and become torpid (a state like hibernation) at night to conserve energy. Pollination plays an important role in our everyday lives, as over 80% of the living flowering plants rely on pollinators for their survival.Īs a tiny, fast bird, hummingbirds have a metabolism that burns a lot of calories. Hummingbirds birds spread pollen caught in face and chest feathers from plant to plant. The features of a flower that attracts a particular species towards it is called a pollination syndrome, as over 80% of the living flowering plants rely on pollinators for their survival. Plants that use birds as pollinators tend to have flowers with red/orange petals and rarely develop a scent (few birds have a sense of smell). These birds use their tongues, which stretch to 2/3 of the length of their body, to reach the nectar deep inside trumpet shaped flowers. When they pull their tongue in, it wraps aound their skull, over their brain!Ī flower's petals attract pollinators through their colours, scent, and even warmth. This food source may be critical in early Spring, if birds return from southerly migrations before many plants are in bloom.īrightly-colored flowers that are tubular hold the most nectar, and are particularly attractive to Hummingbirds. In British Columbia, Rufous Hummingbirds may also lap tree sap after a woodpecker or sapsucker has made holes. Hummingbirds satisfy their water and energy needs by feeding on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue and catching insects on the wing for protein and minerals. In this activity, students make a feeder to attract Hummingbirds.
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