Hummingbirds are amazing little birds that have captivated people for centuries with their beauty and flying skills. One of the most intriguing things about hummingbirds is their ability to hover and fly backwards, which allows them to get nectar from flowers that other birds can’t access. This raises the question – with their aerial maneuverability, do hummingbirds also catch insects while flying?
The hovering flight of hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are the only birds that can sustain hovering flight. Their wings beat incredibly fast – up to 80 times per second! This allows them to generate enough lift to hover in front of flowers. When hovering, their wings describe a figure-eight pattern – the downstroke generates lift, while the upstroke is rotated to minimize drag and recovery. The wings articulate at the shoulder to enable this motion. All this together enables hummingbirds to maintain hovering flight with tremendous stability.
Hummingbirds even have physiological adaptations like reversed sexual size dimorphism that enable sustained hovering. Males tend to be smaller than females in hummingbird species. This makes them lighter and requires less energy to hover. Such adaptations suggest that hovering provides an evolutionary advantage to hummingbirds, likely in terms of specialized foraging.
Foraging adaptations in hummingbirds
Hummingbirds subsist primarily on nectar, and their ability to hover in front of flowers aids feeding. Their long slender beaks and tongues are perfectly suited for drinking nectar. While feeding, they lick up to 13 times per second!
But hummingbirds have a high metabolism and need more nutrients than just nectar, which is mostly sugar water. To fulfill their nutritional needs, they also consume small insects.
Various foraging adaptations suggest that hummingbirds have evolved to hunt insects:
- Their vision is adapted to see ultraviolet light, which helps detect flowers and possibly insects.
- Their brains are enlarged to process visual information quickly during aerial maneuvers.
- They have expansive areas in the brain dedicated to motor control and coordination for complex flying.
Do they catch insects in flight?
Given their adaptations, do hummingbirds use their unique hovering ability to catch insects in flight?
Research shows that they do hawk flying insects, but this comprises a small portion of their diet. Here are some key points:
- One study that examined stomach contents found that in most hummingbird species, arthropods comprised 0-5% of their diet.
- However, up to 15% of the diet of hermit hummingbirds consisted of insects. This suggests they more actively hawk insects.
- Broad-tailed hummingbirds have been observed catching insects while hovering.
- Slow motion footage shows hummingbirds snapping up mosquitoes and gnats in flight.
- They use their tongue to catch insects. The tongue shoots out and retracts in 0.07 seconds!
So while hummingbirds do catch some insects on the fly, they likely do not rely on this as a major food source. It supplements their nectar diet. They opportunistically hawk insects when they encounter them near flowers or in flight. Their hovering ability certainly helps in snapping up insects.
How their insect hunting strategy differs from other birds
Most insect hunting birds use one of these strategies:
- Perch hunting – Sitting on an elevated perch and scanning the environment for prey
- Flycatching – Catching insects while flying through swarms
- Gleaning – Plucking stationary insects off of leaves and branches
Hummingbirds rarely glean insects because they don’t often perch on branches. Their style of flycatching also differs from other birds in that it relies on hovering instead of cruising flight.
Other specialist insect eating birds like swifts and nightjars migrate to follow huge swarms of insects. Hummingbirds in comparison are resident territorial birds with limited insect hunting behavior.
Why their insect catching abilities are limited
Hummingbirds do catch flying insects, but certain limitations prevent them from relying more heavily on this strategy:
- Hovering flight requires a huge amount of energy, so they cannot sustain it for extended periods.
- Their wings are adaptations for hovering rather than speed, so they cannot chase down fast flying insects.
- They prefer hovering close to flowers rather than chasing insects further afield.
- Their tiny size means they need to conserve energy between frequent feeds.
- They are territorial and may not venture far from energy reliable nectar sources within their territory.
How catching insects benefits hummingbirds
Despite the limitations, catching some insects on the fly does benefit hummingbirds in the following ways:
- Protein source – Insects provide supplemental protein to a nectar-heavy diet.
- Fat source – Insects provide essential fats that are scarce in nectar.
- Alternative food – When flowering declines, insects provide an alternate food source.
- Feeding young – Female hummingbirds catch more insects to feed growing chicks.
- Energy boost – Insects provide an energy dense meal to fuel hovering and migration.
Key takeaways
- Hummingbirds can and do catch insects in midair using their specialized hovering ability.
- However, insects comprise a very small portion of their diet, supplemented heavily by nectar.
- Limitations in sustained energy prevent them from relying more on insect hawking.
- They opportunistically catch insects near flowers to supplement their diet.
- This provides needed protein, fats, and extra energy.
Conclusion
The unique hovering ability of hummingbirds does enable them to catch insects in midair. However, various physiological and ecological factors prevent them from depending primarily on this foraging strategy. They opportunistically supplement their nectar diet with protein-rich insects caught on the fly near flowers they are feeding on. Their ability to hunt insects on the wing gives them an extra nutritional boost!
Hummingbird Species | Percentage of Insects in Diet |
---|---|
Ruby-throated Hummingbird | 5% |
Rufous Hummingbird | 12% |
Allen’s Hummingbird | 10% |
Anna’s Hummingbird | 15% |
Costa’s Hummingbird | 10% |
Broad-tailed Hummingbird | 18% |
Black-chinned Hummingbird | 8% |