We are watching a program John recorded from PBS about - TopicsExpress



          

We are watching a program John recorded from PBS about hummingbirds. Incredible. There is one, a swordbill hummingbird, in Ecuador that has a 4" bill, longer than its body. One on a Caribbean island the male & female have totally different beaks. The male feeds on one kind of heliconia needing a shorter bill. The female feeds on another kind requiring a longer curved bill to feed. There is no protein in the nectar of the flowers. So 25% of their diet is insects. They are very skilled in catching bugs; they open their bills wide to snap up a bug. They eat more than 50% of their weight in nectar each day requiring them to visit more than 1000 flowers each day. They beat their wings 200X/second! Their heart beat is 600 beats/minute, thus expending a great deal of energy. When they rest at night they almost go into a type of hibernation. Heart slows to 36 beats/min. Body temp cools from 105 to less than half. It does this to conserve energy. Otherwise it would die at night without food to give it energy. Jehovah is wonderful!
Posted on: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 00:33:28 +0000

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