What Do Hummingbirds Eat?

Koepcke’s Hermit hummingbird primarily feeds on nectar like other hummingbirds. It also eats a vast range of arthropods.

This type of hummingbird was discovered very recently, in 1977 in Peru. Its habitat is mainly the lowlands and moist evergreen forests (montane).

Straight-billed Hermit forages flowers looking for nectar. It also consumes arthropods.

This type of hummingbird differs from other species in its subfamily because of its long and straight bill as suggested by its name. It inhabits shrublands, rainforests, and artificial lands.

Tawny-bellied Hermit forages the wet and humid forest undergrowth in search of arthropods, and nectar.

This hummingbird lives in forests especially the subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds primarily feed on small insects and nectar from flowers.

These small birds are found in tropical, temperate and terrestrial regions. They mostly inhabit scrub forests, rainforests, marsh, riparian lands, agricultural, and suburban areas.

Bee Hummingbird Species mainly feeds on insects and nectar from flowers.

This hummingbird is the world’s smallest bird, notable for its colorful appearance. These birds inhabit regions of both low and high altitudes. They can be found in the swampy areas, coastal forests, humanmade gardens, and mountain valleys.

Anna’s Hummingbird explores their territories in search of their food, which mainly constitutes nectar and small insects.

This medium-sized hummingbird has a wide distribution in the tropical forests found in Mexico. These birds inhabit savannah, coastal scrubs, residential areas, yards, parks, and eucalyptus groves.

Hummingbirds use different strategies to hunt their prey. One technique these birds use is sally-hawking. In this method, the hummingbirds snatch flying insects from the sky.

The other technique these birds use is gleaning arthropods from water surfaces, leaves, and barks of trees. These birds may also pluck arthropods from flowers with nectar, spider webs, sap wells, and some soft fruits.

Overall, their vision comes in handy to help them with their hunting. After hunting, hummingbirds swallow their prey whole.

Hummingbirds are diurnal, which implies they tend to be active during the day. These small birds will thus be seen foraging for food during the day. At night, hummingbirds sleep.

Hummingbirds eat very often, and this is attributed to the fact that these organisms need to support their flycatching abilities.

The super sweet nectar hummingbirds eat made up of 25% sugar, and this is imperative to power their high metabolism, which is considered to be the highest when compared to other endothermic organisms. Regularly feeding on sweet nectar means they can support perching and their rapid heart rates.

During the harsh winter, food is scarce, and so hummingbirds tend to feed less often. They go into a state of torpor, an energy conservation phenomenon related to hibernation. Their heart rates drop significantly as well as their body temperatures. This phenomenon helps them reduce their activity and thus promotes their survival in the event of food scarcity during harsh weather.

Hummingbirds have very few predators. Some of the known ones include snakes, some bat species, jays, pygmy-owls, toucans, and forest falcons.

Hummingbirds have an instrumental role to play in the animal food chain. They are a source of food (protein) to organisms which feed on them. Hummingbirds also predate on smaller organisms like the arthropods and thus helps keep their population under check.

Through pollination, they promote flowering of plants, a role which indirectly helps sustain other animals. In general, hummingbirds help maintain the integrity of a healthy ecosystem.