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Show MOUNTAIN SPECIES OF THE MONTH Brilliant Humming By Pam Poulson Manager of Environmental Education Red Butte Garden and Arboretum T° hikers slowly make their way across the glacier scoured quartzite outcrop, looking closely at the flowering delights in rock crevices. Flowering in the mountains has passed its peak, but still is glorious, bright with reds, magentas and purples of Indian paintbrush, fireweed, let gilia. penstemon, and scar- Stooping low to examine brilliant red Wild fuchsia, the hikers’ attention is diverted by a strange noise. The odd, high pitched whirring is impossible to ignore. The sound gets louder and louder, then, whoosh! A territorial hummingbird dives at the human intruders, who * instinctively duck to avoid a blow. Ounce for ounce, a hummingbird is probably the fiercest bird in the world. Belligerent and territorial, a hummingbird will tirelessly defend every food source hummingbirds, against other larger birds (including raptors) and mammals. Delicate, but lightening quick, a hummer will dive from 100 feet in the air, swooping in a pendulum pattern, until any competitor is driven off. Small size means extreme metabolism and a hummingbird must consume its weight in food every day — the highest consumption per weight of any bird. A hummingbird requires the sugary contents of almost 1,000 flowers daily. To accomplish this, it must feed constantly during daylight hours. Protection of his garden is essential to survival. A hummingbird’s flight-ability and long bill are perfectly adapted for harvesting nectar. A hummingbird is compact and strongly muscled. His long blade-like wings are connected only at the shoulder and are capable of rotating in all directions. The muscles that control specialized wing movement account for 1/3 of his weight. By positioning his body vertically and tracing a figure-eight with the tips of his wings, the hummingbird is able to fly forward, backward, straight ways, or hover. A up, hummingbird down spends or sidealmost its entire day in flight. The rate of wing beat varies with mingbird — the faster the rate — per second. To sip nectar mingbird hovers the TIMES size of the hum- Birds: Wonders of Nature bill as both a probe and a drinking straw. His extendible tongue can stretch further, doubling his reach. Hummingbird tongues are unique among birds. They are especially adapted for lapping up nectar. Some have brush like tips, some have split tips. Although nectar is its main food, providing essential high energy sugars, a hummer will also eat insects and spiders. area are the Broad-tailed hummingbird Selasphorus platycercus platycercus) and the Black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri). The Broadtailed resembles the Ruby-throated hummingbird of the eastern U.S. The Black-chinned has a black gorget with an iridescent purple band. In late summer, the Rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) migrates through on his way from the Pacific Northwest Interestingly, a hummingbird cannot smell, but is attracted to flowers by their shapes and bright colors. Bright colors show up well as a contrast to green. Hummers seem drawn WASATCH FLy FISHERS to the color red, but this may be because red flowers tend to __ ® Wasatch Mountains Fishing Specialists ® BEST PRICES IN TOW 281-5510 3443 S. STATE #23, SALT LAKE to central Mexico (on his return flight in late winter, he follows the Pacific Every once in a while a Calliope hummingbird (Stellula calliope) is seen. These resemble the Broad-tailed and Ruby-throated, but are much smaller In southern Utah watch for Costa’s hummingbird (Calypte costae) and Rivoli’s hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens). @ Coast). DD ntl “Good UTAH ND SERY ln.FAre of Bad SOUTH VOICE 2300 EAST + SALT 801.94.AUDIO + LAKE FAX CITY, tar. The characteris- tics of a hummingbird’s selected flowers match his flight style and beak adaptation: they are showy, makes a different humming LOTS OF Lupine, Aspen, Poppy, Sod, Seeds Daisy, KNOWLEDGE, Spruce, Lilac, White Fir, Maple, Canadian Red Honeysuckle,@ IDEAS, Cherry, Juniper, Sedum, Shovels, Willow, Delphinium, Mulch, Columbine, Coneflower, Hollyhock, Lawn Furniture, Flax, Petunia, arrow, Snow-in-Summer, Soil Pep, Wild Crab Apple, Flower oe Geranium, Salvia, #g SPRINKLER PARTS, Experience, Top Soil, Rakes, Dogs sound, depending on the speed of its wing beats. These characteristic sounds can be used to distinguish one species from another. There are from 320 to 340 species of hummingbirds found only in the western hemisphere, with the greatest concentration in South America. There are 180 species in Equador alone. Belize is the home of the most species per land area. There is only one species in the eastern U.S. (Ruby smaller the bird, the from 10 to 80 beats throated hummingbird), but 23 species from a-flower, a humand uses his pointed in the western U.S., with 6 having been seen in Utah. The two most often seen in this PAGE And Much More... Park City Nursery Ae 649-1363 HWY 224, across from the Blue Roof Market 5 UTAH 801.942.3136 produce more nec- with long floral tubes and they bloom on the tips of branches, vertically or dangling. Because they can hummers hover, need no landing platform as bees do. Hummers are as bright and beautiful as the flowers they forage. The glossy sheen of his plumage results from highly refractive granules within the surface of the feathers. The most typical identifying mark of a hummingbird is the gorget or bib, the color of which depends upon the viewing angle. In the sun, his feathers look iridescent, like a flashing jewel. In the shade, his plumage is dull. Their glittering coloration has produced some fancy, exotic names: coquette, fairy, hill star, wood star, sapphire, topaz, and sun gem. ompared to his appearance, the Cc of a hummingbird is drab. The humming for which the bird is named is actually made by the whirring movement of the wings and tail feathers. Each hummingbird species Sound” 1.800.FOR.KLAY 7054 CITY, iy oe is the ee 84121 |
