Garden Jewel
by Lynn Bauer
Title
Garden Jewel
Artist
Lynn Bauer
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
A beautiful Allen's hummingbird caught in motion as he flies into the center of a red hibiscus in the garden.
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5�13 cm (3�5 in) range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12�80 times per second (depending on the species). They are known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings, which sometimes sound like bees or other insects. To conserve energy while they sleep or when food is scarce, they have the ability to go into a hibernation-like state (torpor) where their metabolic rate is slowed to 1/15th of its normal rate. When the nights get colder, their body temperature can drop significantly and thus slow down their heart and breathing rate, thus burning much less energy overnight. As the day heats back up, the hummingbirds body temperature will come back up and they will get back to their normal activity. They are also the only group of birds with the ability to fly backwards. They can fly at speeds exceeding 15 m/s (54 km/h; 34 mph). Individuals from some species of hummingbirds weigh less than a penny.
Uploaded
February 13th, 2013
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