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The Life Cycles of Hummingbirds

They resemble magical fairyland creatures, and with their brilliant plumage and tiny, whirligig wings, hummingbirds are a delight to watch. Relatively unsociable avians, hummingbirds aggressively protect their small territories -- which could be just the flower they are on at the moment. All of the approximately 320 species of hummingbirds live within the Western Hemisphere, primarily in South and Central America, and the Caribbean. Of these, 16 species migrate to North America to breed.

Biology
- If a hummingbird can survive its first year, it has a good chance of living for a few years, a select few even up to six or eight. Unfortunately, most hummingbirds do not make it past their first annual cycle. Hummingbirds have a lot of wing power, manifested by the blur of wings as they flap up to 50 times per second. The average hummingbird is able to navigate areas quickly with its ability to fly not only forward, but backward, side to side, up and down and upside down. All this flitting around uses up an enormous amount of energy, and hummingbirds spend most of their waking hours searching for food to replenish themselves.
Social Life
- The bright, colorful band of feathers on the neck of some hummingbirds is called a gorget.
  
  Most hummingbirds are solitary creatures, as they have no need of a social network. They do not cooperate in food searches, in nesting or in many other activities because they don't have a need to do so. In fact, you may see hummingbirds chase each other around the garden in an effort to oust the competition for food and resources. One known case of hummingbirds coming close to socializing, according to the Smithsonian's Migratory Bird Center, is when they form what are called leks in the tropics. This is when the males of a few hummingbird species gather in groupings and sing songs in a bid to attract a mate. Once they attract a female, the birds then compete to mate with her.
Mating
- The hummingbird's solitary instinct extends even to mating. After they mate, hummingbirds do not form pair bonds. The male flies off and the female is left to build the nest, protect the baby birds, provide food for them and raise them on her own.
Nesting
- Hummingbirds use spider silk to weave leafy materials together to form a nest.
  
  Hummingbirds nest in trees and will not nest in birdhouses. The nests themselves are very small, most no bigger than a golf or ping-pong ball. Hummingbirds are tiny, so it is no surprise that their eggs are tiny as well. Within the small nests are usually two eggs sometimes as small as shelled green peas, with some as big as a jelly bean. The eggs take from 11 to 17 days to hatch. While they are in the nest, the baby hummingbirds eat a protein-based diet. Mother hummingbirds hover in midair to catch small insects and spiders to feed the nestlings. After about 21 days, the nestlings are ready to fly and begin their own hummingbird lives.

Animals & Science