Hummers (of the natural variety)

A few weeks ago, I put a hummingbird feeder on the back patio behind the dining area of our home. A couple of hummers, one male and one female, are regular visitors to the feeder, especially later in the afternoon.
I have been fascinated by these birds since I was a child, but this is, if I recall correctly, the first time I’ve been able to attract hummers with a feeder on a regular basis. I don’t know if you’ve seen hummingbirds up close, but they are well worth the work it takes to keep the feeder clean and filled.
The ruby-throated hummingbird, the only variety of hummer that consistently appears east of the Rockies, is one of the smaller of the species. Adults weigh in at about 3 to 4 grams, or about 1/8 of an ounce. Some other remarkable statistics are that their body temperature is in the 105 to 108 degree range, their eggs are about the size of peas, and their heart rate can be as high as 1,200 beats per minute in flight.
Their nests are the size of walnuts and they can briefly fly as fast as 60 miles an hour. Their normal flight speed is about half that. Their wings beat from 40 to 80 times a second and their respirations are about 250 per minute.
They are the only bird, as you know, that can hover, fly backward, forward, up, down, and even upside down (credit National Geographic Magazine). Their wings are hinged at the shoulders in such a way that they can exquisitely control their flight so that their bodies remain virtually stationary while their wings and tail furiously maintain their position. During much of their acrobatics, the wings beat opposite one-another. That is, one wing will be down while the other is up.
Many of these diminutive birds will migrate in the fall from the Gulf coast to the northern coast of South America, making the 500 mile flight over a span of 15 to 18 hours, non-stop. They then come back in February and gradually make their way up into the rest of the country during the spring and summer months.
This is probably more information than you really wanted to know about the hummer. I encourage you to view a video of hummers in flight. See it in HD and watch it full screen on YouTube. The URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0HqfO9d9-U&annotation_id=annotation_275200&feature=iv