Hummingbirds are amazing! The female does all the work. She builds the nests and raises her young. Out here in California, the Anna’s Hummingbird lives here year around. Give or take a day or two, Twenty seven days from egg to fledgling. The female Hummingbirds are magnificent carpenters. The nests are constructed strong and have some flex to them. Spider webs, moss, toilet paper and lichen all this material is use to make the nest out west

Yes and no. I knew about torpor and how they lower their body temperature. I did wonder though how long it took for them to come out of torpor

Torpor is a new concept.  How long does it take for the bird to "come out of" the torpor state?

Our friend has a hummingbird who will perch on their empty suet feeder throughout much of the day. If a Carolina wren comes to see if there is suet, the hummingbird will chase it off just so it can sit there! They really do perch so much more often than you realize, they're just hard to see cause they're so small :) love this course!

I just wonder if torpor makes hummingbirds more vulnerable to predators, at night?  Or do they hide very well among shrubs, or trunk holes...? Or maybe because they are quite cold, night predators will not find them so easily? If anyone knows I would love to hear! Thank you, Liliana

This is so interesting. Never knew this about hummingbirds. I'm in the east so only have seen the ruby throated but always a delight to see them return in the spring.

Incredibly fascinating how hummingbirds use torpor while sleeping to conserve energy. I had no idea that was how they did it!

I had no idea how their nectar sipping worked and find this very fascinating!

I wonder if hummingbirds are especially vulnerable to predators when in torpor. I would worry about cats in particular. They are so beautiful! I love the incredible variety of shapes, sizes, feathers, and specializations with flowers.

While I knew they moved their wings in a different way that other birds I did not realize the structural differences. I found the fact that the muscles used to fly make up 1/4 of their body weight. My little guy likes to sleep at the feeder, only once did he seem to go into torpor there, he ended up hanging upside down.

I was surprised to learn how many species of hummingbirds there are in the world - far more than I ever imagined. Their energy-conserving adaptations, such as torpor, are quite amazing, but make perfect sense now that I know more about their high metabolism and energy consumption. Truly wonderful birds.

Quite amazing

I was surprised to learn of the nectar robbing activity. I was unaware of this behavior. I did, after completing this section, observe a ruby-throated hummingbird drinking nectar from a Rose-of-Sharon flower, going at it from the underside of the flower rather than directly into the center of the flower. I also was unaware of how much time they spend perching. I have a male ruby-throated hummingbird who dominates my feeders. I have discovered his favorite perch in one of our trees, and now that I know, I can almost always find him there.

So very interesting!

It was very enlightening to get to know the mechanisms they use to feed. It is fascinating, im loving this course.

In my interests of Hummingbirds, I could never see how the birds sip the nectar.  Thank you for the demonstration in the video. Ruth

I keep hummingbird feeders in my garden year-round here in Southern Arizona. On occasion the feeders will freeze if we get a very cold night. In this case I will go out very early in the morning to replace the frozen feeders with fresh nectar. One cold morning I went out while it was still a bit dark to find a Costa's Hummingbird perched on the feeder. I can only describe him as "spaced out" as he didn't move a bit and I assume that he was still just coming out of torpor. Perhaps the "awakening" from torpor isn't an instant act but it can take a few minutes (just my guess).

I didn’t know that hummingbirds could cool down their bodies so low to be in torpor.

All of the Lesson was interesting: What was surprising was how huge the supracoracoideus and pectoral muscles are in Hummingbirds in comparison to other bird species. It was also interesting about the bone structure in which the Hummingbird hand bones are significantly longer than other bird species. Bottom line: it seems the tiny Hummingbird is all muscle for specialized flight. What is also interesting is the Hummingbird tongue is so long that the base wraps around the back of the skull and over the top of the eye. The description of the split featherlike tongue was amazing. Also, hummers can pick off insects and Spiders from spiderweb. I had thought that hummers were strictly nectar feeders.

Again another great set of lessons here, but I think the animation of how hummingbirds fly was just so informative and spectacular. Again, I knew the concept but watching it slowed down and explained through animations was very helpful just as the animations about iridescence were. It's incredible to think about how these birds regularly eat their own body weight in nectar each day and can slow their bodies down in deep torpor. It makes you appreciate the abilities that other beings have that far exceed our own.

I was surprised to learn that some hummingbirds will occasionally pierce the sides of flowers to get to the nectar. I was even more surprised to learn that some species, particularly dagger-bills, specialize in this feeding technique. I suppose I just never imagined that nectar robbing was a technique hummingbirds even could use, but it makes sense now that I think about it. Some tubular flowers are so long that many hummingbird species couldn't get to it any other way. Now that I know about it, I'll have to keep an eye out for nectar robbing hummingbirds so that I can see this technique in action.

I see only Anna's hummingbirds in my garden and feeders.  I have seen "nectar robbing" at the abutilon flowers.  I didn't realize that this was a known behavior. The video regarding torpor was very interesting, particularly the thermal images.  I have always wondered if the hummingbirds rest at night in a specific tree or bush, or if it is random depending on their location when night falls.

I find Torpor fascinating! It's so good to understand this state that the Hummingbirds go into should I ever, by some strange chance, stumble upon one in it. I didn't know that they like spiders and other lil insects, how cool!

I watched a ruby throated female construct her nest this spring.  She finally seemed to be happy with it after a week of being finicky about licken addition, shape, lots of feet stamping.  Finally I thought she had laid her eggs and was nesting when we had a cold snap.  She sat on her nest all day leaving only briefly and then returning, but the as dusk neared she flew to a feeder I had placed just for her, took a sip and flew away.  I never saw her again, although the nest still sits abandoned in the tree.  I assume that she knew she couldn't save herself and her eggs by torpor.  Hopefully she was able to save herself.

I was surprised about the energy saving methods during the night. Really an amazing feature, as well as the tongue capabilities!