Hummingbirds are a small American bird that makes a humming noise with its rapidly moving wings. There are about 300 species, mostly tropical. Check out the variety of colorful hummingbirds in this gallery.
A hummingbird in a garden of Mexico City. See the next photo for a hummingbird that outflies all other hummingbirds.
Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) has the longest migration route in the United States. The next hummingbird you might find in your backyard.
Feeders are useful for supplementing the hummingbird's diet when flowers aren't in bloom. The next hummingbird is being hand-fed by a human.
Held in a cloth straitjacket, a hummingbird sips sugar water. Get a close up of a hummingbird with a striped face next.
Hummingbirds come in many colors. The hummingbird on the next page is violet.
A violet hummingbird is seen at the aviary of La Paz Waterfall Gardens, a wildlife refuge. Take a look at a green hummingbird next.
A hummingbird hovers by a flower as it prepares to suck its nectar. Ever seen a tropical hummingbird? See the next picture.
A tropical hummingbird feeds on a flower. See a closer view of a hovering hummingbird on the next page.
Hummingbirds hover in the air like miniature helicopters. The next bird is at a wildlife refuge.
A hummingbird is seen at the aviary of La Paz Waterfall Gardens, a wildlife refuge or different animal species in the province of Sarapiqui some 70 kilometers north from San Jose.
Most hummingbirds are three to four inches long.
Female hummingbirds typically lay 2 eggs.
A hummingbird tends her nest in British Columbia. She’ll use spider webs, lichen and soft bits of plants to make a home in a tree.
Hummingbirds, like this steely-vented hummingbird in Costa Rica, are nearly always on the go.
The Canivet's Emerald is found in Central America.
This male Rufus hummingbird is ready to drink up the nectar in the Cape fuchsia.
There are about 330 different species of hummingbirds. Most of them live and remain in Central and South America, never venturing any farther north. Only 16 species of hummingbirds actually breed in North America.
The male Costa's Hummingbird is recognized by his purple head and neck.
This Purple-throated mountain-gem hummingbird has wings that vibrate 20 to 80 times per second.
Hummingbirds, like this Broad-billed species, have long, tubular tongues that extend far beyond the bill, enabling the bird to reach nectar and insects deep inside flowers.
Hummingbirds can hover over flowers while feeding, and also can fly backwards.
When early Spanish explorers first encountered hummingbirds in the New World, they called them joyas voladoras--or "flying jewels."
The ruby-throated hummingbird--the only hummingbird species east of Mississippi -- migrates at least 2,000 miles from its breeding grounds to its wintering grounds.
Like bees, hummingbirds carry pollen from one plant to another while they are feeding, thus playing an important role in plant pollination. Each bird can visit between 1,000 and 2,000 blossoms every day.
Hummingbirds, like this White-necked Jacobin, have bright-colored, iridescent plumage.
