Hummingbirds are fascinating little birds that are known for their ability to hover in midair and fly backwards as they drink nectar from flowers. Their diet is unique among birds as they get most of their nutrition from drinking nectar rather than eating insects or seeds. This has led to some confusion around whether hummingbirds eat only nectar or if they supplement their diet with other foods like seeds.
Quick Answer
Hummingbirds get nearly all of their energy from drinking floral nectars. However, they do sometimes eat small insects for protein and will occasionally consume tree sap or juice from broken fruits. Hummingbirds do not typically eat bird seeds.
Do Hummingbirds Eat Seeds?
Hummingbirds do not normally eat bird seeds. Their long slender beaks and tongues are specially adapted for drinking nectar from flowers. Seeds would be difficult for hummingbirds to crack open and digest.
That said, there are a few exceptions where hummingbirds may occasionally eat small soft seeds:
- Sapote tree seeds – These tropical tree seeds have a soft edible pulp that hummingbirds can access.
- Nectar mixes – Some commercial nectar mixes designed for hummingbird feeders include small flower or fruit seeds that the birds can ingest.
- Giant heliconia seeds – Heliconia plant seed pods have soft outer coatings that hummingbirds sometimes pierce for nutrients.
However, bird seeds like millet, sunflower, safflower etc that are eaten by songbirds and other types of birds are generally too large and hard for hummingbirds to consume. The nutritional composition of most seeds is also not what hummingbirds have evolved to process.
What Do Hummingbirds Eat?
Here is a breakdown of the main components in a typical hummingbird’s diet:
Nectar
Up to 90-95% of a hummingbird’s total food intake comes from drinking nectar from colorful tubular flowers. Their diet consists of a mix of nectars from native plant species like cardinal flowers, trumpet vines, salvia, fuchsia, and nectar-producing exotics like lilies and orchids.
Favorite nectar sources differ based on the geographic range of the hummingbird species. For example, Allen’s hummingbirds in California get a lot of nectar from eucalyptus flowers while Rufous hummingbirds in the Rocky Mountains source it from columbines and honeysuckle.
Hummingbirds have specially adapted long slender beaks and tongues to lap up nectar as they hover near the flowers. Their tongues even have tiny frilly tips that help lap up nectar.
Small Insects and Spiders
While hummingbirds get nearly all their energy from nectar, they get most of their proteins, amino acids, vitamins and minerals from eating small insects and spiders. Depending on the species, bugs may comprise 5-10% of their total food intake.
Preferred insect prey includes small bees, mosquitoes, fruit flies, gnats, aphids, spider mites, caterpillars, ants and especially spiders. Hummers often hawk flying insects in midair and forage through leaves and bushes looking for crawled bugs.
Tree Sap
Hummingbirds will occasionally supplement their diet by licking sap wells drilled in trees by sapsuckers. These sap wells exude nutrients that attract insects, providing a convenient source of food. The sap itself contains sugars that provide quick energy.
Fruit Juice
Hummers sometimes pierce ripe soft fruits like oranges, bananas and berries to drink the sweet juices inside. They will also drink juice from damaged overripe fruit.
Salts and Minerals
In addition to eating small insects for their nutrient content, hummingbirds will get essential minerals like sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium by licking rainwater and moist soil. Some also drink water trickling down rocky cliffs.
How Much Food Do Hummingbirds Eat?
Despite being one of the smallest birds, hummingbirds have extremely high metabolisms and energy needs. Here’s how much they need to eat each day just to survive:
- Nectar – Up to 6 to 8 times their body weight in nectar per day
- Insects – Hundreds of tiny insects to meet protein requirements
To put their nectar requirements in perspective, a 3 gram Ruby-throated Hummingbird would need to drink over 20 grams of nectar daily, visiting hundreds or even over a thousand flowers per day. With this extremely high food requirement, hummingbirds are essentially always either feeding or conserving energy.
They can starve after just a few hours without adequate nectar which is why it’s so important to keep nectar feeders freshly stocked and cleaned.
Hummingbird Beaks and Feet Are Specialized for Feeding
Hummingbirds have evolved highly specialized beaks and feet to match their unique nectar diet.
Needle-like Beaks
Hummingbirds have very slender, pointed beaks that are perfectly adapted for reaching into tubular flowers and accessing nectar. Their beaks are a bit flexible and curved to neatly match the shape of flowers.
The long tapered shape also provides more surface area coverage for the tongue, allowing them to lap up more nectar.
Grooved and Forked Tongues
A hummingbird’s tongue is another optimized tool for nectar-feeding. Their tongues are forked to wrap around nectar conduits and have tiny hair-like frills on the tips to lap up liquid.
Tube-shaped grooves on the top surface of the tongue help quickly move nectar via capillary action into the throat when the bill is compressed.
Small Feet
Hummingbird feet are very compact with sharp talons used mainly for perching while feeding. Their small size makes them ill-suited for grasping or manipulating food.
So hummingbirds cannot hull seeds or manipulate food items well. Even when occasionally eating tiny insects, they usually catch them midair in their beak rather than grasp them with their feet.
What Would Happen if a Hummingbird Ate Bird Seed?
While hummingbirds do not typically eat bird seeds, they occasionally may ingest small soft seeds from certain fruits or nectar mixes.
However, most bird seeds like millet and sunflower seeds have a hard outer shell and are relatively large. Here’s what could happen if a hummingbird tried to eat typical bird seed:
- Difficulty Cracking the Shell – The hard, tightly packed shell would be extremely difficult for a hummer’s tiny needle-like beak to pry open.
- Choking Hazard – Common bird seeds are large enough to pose a choking threat if a hummingbird swallowed them.
- Damage to the Beak – Trying to crack hard seeds could damage the delicate tip of the hummingbird’s bill.
- Difficulty Swallowing – Even if swallowed whole, large seeds may get stuck or injure their slender throats.
- Nutritional Imbalance – Most seeds lack the sugar content and water content that hummingbirds require.
While not acutely toxic, bird seeds would likely pose an assortment of feeding hazards and nutritional problems for hummingbirds that they are not adapted to utilize.
How to Feed Hummingbirds
Instead of bird seed, hummingbirds can be fed and supplemented with the following food sources:
Nectar Feeders
Specially designed hummingbird feeders are the easiest way to provide the high-energy nectar that hummingbirds need. Fill them with a 4:1 sugar to water ratio solution, changing it out at least every 2 to 3 days to prevent spoilage.
Nectar Plants
Planting native flowers, shrubs and vines that hummingbirds are adapted to feed from is a natural way to provide food. Good nectar plants include honeysuckles, fuchsias, lilies, penstemons, aloes and more.
Small Insects
Letting spiders build webs around your yard provides a good source of protein. You can also purchase dried gnats, fruit flies and mealworms at some nature stores to supplement their diet.
Fruit Halves
Occasionally skewering halves of soft fruits like oranges, bananas and grapes can provide some extra nutrition and energy.
Mineral/Salt Lick
Mixing some table salt and wood ash into a muddy spot can provide essential minerals lacking in nectar.
Key Takeaways on Hummingbird Diet
- Hummingbirds get nearly all their nutrition from drinking floral nectars which provide quick energy.
- They do not normally eat bird seed which is hard with a poor nutritional profile.
- Hummers do eat some small insects and occasionally drink plant sap for protein and nutrients.
- Their slender beaks and tongues are adapted for accessing liquid nectar, not manipulating seeds.
- Special nectar feeders, flower gardens, and other supplements provide what hummingbirds need.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hummingbirds subsist almost entirely on a liquid diet of nectar from flowers. While they get small amounts of protein from eating tiny insects, they do not typically consume bird seeds. Attempting to crack and eat the hard shells of most bird seeds would be difficult and hazardous with their specialized beaks and tongues that have evolved for drinking floral nectar. The best ways to feed hummingbirds involve providing them with proper nectar feeders, nectar-producing flowers, and small insect supplements.
