Oct/Nov Critter Article By The Wildlife Ace.
Foothills goes to the birds!
Hi name is Haiku, I’m a ruby throated hummingbird or you may call me (Archilochus colubris). By the time you read this article I should be on my way to South America, since I’m literally writing this hours before the Foothills gang releases me. As far as their accommodations, I’ll give Foothills four stars out of five because they did force me to learn how to feed myself and that was a bit of a bummer. Anyway, I was found passed out in a driveway in Travelers Rest. When I was turned into the wildlife rescue, I was the size of a two nut peanut and most of that was my beak. Although all wildlife rescues are labor intensive, I was a fulltime effort for 10 people. I ate every 15 minutes from dawn to late at night. As a result, I also managed to win the hearts of each person too from Foothills Animal Rescue’s Squirrel Specialist to their Raptor Experts because; they all took turns feeding me. The Foothills crew definitely looks a little worse for wear. Apparently, sleep deprivation does work well in humans. Since I needed protein for growth not just sugar they ordered a special hummingbird formula for me. In the wild, my mom would catch small bugs and spiders to eat. We also enjoy eating nectar from flowers and from feeders. Plus, we provide a huge service by pollinating the flowers we snack from. Where as common birds flap their wings to fly, I move my wings in a figure eight motion with a wing beat average of 53 beats per second for normal flight. When I move my wings, I make a humming sound do to the speed of my wing beats this humming sound contributed to my name as a hummingbird. These figure eight wing motions also allow me to fly backwards this is a feat that normal birds can’t do. My heart rate can be as high as 1260 per minute. Most experts believe that my life span is between 3 and 4 years but, one banned hummingbird found in Colorado lived to be 12 years old. It is also a common myth, that I do not have feet. Well, I do have two very cute little feet just like any other bird. Many people are also concerned that if they leave their hummingbird feeders out too long their hummingbirds won’t migrate. This is also a myth. When it’s time for me to migrate in late fall, I will have a hormone change and simply fly to my winter vacation house. If you would like to feed my friends and me here is my favorite recipe. Take one cup of white granulated sugar and dissolve in three cups of water. Bring this solution to a boil on low heat. Remove from your stove as soon as it begins to boil. Then store your batch of hummingbird food in the refrigerator. One batch will keep for one week in your fridge.
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Oct/ Nov Critter Article
By
The Wildlife Ace
