Hummingbirds are known for their ability to hover and fly backwards, making them unique among birds. Their wings beat on average around 50 times per second, allowing them to fly like helicopters. But what about their legs? Do hummingbirds actually have long legs compared to other birds?
The short answer is no, hummingbirds do not have particularly long legs compared to their body size. Their legs are quite short and small relative to the rest of their body. However, the length of their legs is well-adapted to their lifestyle and feeding behaviors.
Anatomy of hummingbird legs
Hummingbird legs are structured very differently from other bird species. Here’s a quick overview of their anatomy:
- Very short femur (thigh bone)
- Short tibiotarsus (lower leg bone)
- Small, delicate feet with 4 toes, with 3 pointing forward and 1 pointing backward
- Minimal muscle mass on legs since they are not used for walking or perching
- Small feet relative to body size compared to other birds
Overall, a hummingbird’s legs comprise around 10% of their total body length. In contrast, many songbirds have legs making up around 30-50% of their length. So hummingbirds have the shortest legs relative to body size of any bird species.
Their small leg bones and feet help minimize weight, allowing hummingbirds to hover effortlessly. Extra large or muscular legs would add unnecessary weight and make controlled hovering more difficult.
Length of hummingbird legs compared to body
To understand whether hummingbirds truly have long legs, we need to look at their leg length in proportion to their total body size.
The average lengths of the legs and bodies of 3 common hummingbird species are:
| Species | Total Length | Leg Length |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby-throated hummingbird | 3.1 – 3.5 in | 0.5 in |
| Rufous hummingbird | 3.1 – 3.5 in | 0.5 in |
| Calliope hummingbird | 2.75 – 3.1 in | 0.4 in |
As you can see, the leg length of all 3 species ranges from 0.4 – 0.5 inches, while their bodies measure between 2.75 – 3.5 inches long. So the legs make up only around 10-15% of their total body length.
By comparison, a bird with relatively long legs like the yellow-legged gull has legs making up 30-50% of its total length.
So hummingbirds have very short legs for their body size compared to other bird species. The proportion of leg length to body length is much smaller than average.
Why hummingbirds don’t need long legs
Hummingbirds have evolved with short legs because they don’t need long legs for their lifestyle and feeding behaviors. Here are a few reasons why:
- Hover while feeding – Hummingbirds can hover in mid-air and do not perch, so they don’t need legs to grip branches.
- Tiny body size – Longer legs would be clumsy on their tiny bodies and make controlled flight more difficult.
- Minimal walking/hopping – They spend nearly all time flying, not walking or hopping on the ground.
- Weight reduction – Short legs minimize weight and allow easier hovering.
- Compact nesting – Their short legs allow them to tuck in neatly while roosting or nesting.
In essence, hummingbirds are masters of flight – and shorter legs help maximize their flight capabilities.
Extra leg length would simply be unnecessary bulk that has no benefit for feeding while hovering or staying continuously airborne. So through evolution, hummingbirds have retained very compact, short legs compared to the overall size of their body.
How hummingbirds use their small legs
While hummingbird legs are not elongated, they do serve some very important functions:
- Perching – While hummingbirds can’t grip branches like songbirds, they occasionally rest on wires or poles by carefully balancing.
- Preening – They use their feet to scratch and groom hard-to-reach spots.
- Nest building – Their feet help gather and position materials during nest construction.
- Heat exchange – Dilating blood vessels in their legs helps dump excess heat.
- Hanging on – Feet tightly grip nests and branches while sleeping.
So while hummingbird legs are too short for functions like walking or hopping, they still provide some crucial anatomical benefits. Their compact size and strength allows for balancing, scratching, constructing and clinging.
Muscles and bones in hummingbird legs
To understand why hummingbird legs are so short, it helps to look at their specialized muscles and bones:
Leg muscles
Hummingbirds have very minimal musculature in their legs. With a near constant need to minimize weight for flight, extra muscles would be unnecessary bulk.
Since they don’t use their legs for vigorous activities like running or perching, they only need a limited number of small muscle groups. These are mainly used for clinging, grasping and balancing.
Leg bones
The leg bones – like the femur and tibiotarsus – are shortened and delicate. This reduced skeletal structure is adequate for their limited functions of balance and clinging.
Again, any extra bone length would add unnecessary weight without providing an evolutionary advantage.
Foot bones
Their feet contain 4 tiny toes. 3 point forward and 1 points backward. This arrange allows the birds to tightly cling to branches, wires or nest walls.
The toes contain specialized tendons that automatically clench when the leg is bent. The feet are strong enough to hang upside down while sleeping without any active effort from the bird.
So hummingbird leg and foot bones are highly specialized for efficient weight reduction and mid-air functioning.
Do baby hummingbirds have longer legs?
Baby hummingbirds hatch with their legs perfectly proportioned to their tiny bodies. The legs do not go through a growth spurt and remain quite short even in adulthood.
In fact, their legs are a similar relative size at hatching as they are fully grown. This allows the hatchlings to start using their critical hovering ability right away.
Here’s a comparison of the leg-to-body proportions:
- Baby ruby-throated hummingbird: Body 1.6 in, Legs 0.2 in (Legs 12% of body length)
- Adult ruby-throated hummingbird: Body 3.5 in, Legs 0.5 in (Legs 14% of body length)
As you can see, the leg-to-body ratio is nearly identical in juveniles and adults. So hummingbirds do not undergo a dramatic leg growth phase early in life. Their legs stay quite short even after reaching maturity.
This consistent compact leg size allows excellent aerial maneuverability at all life stages for these specialized birds.
Do males and females have different leg sizes?
There is very little sexual dimorphism (size difference) in hummingbird legs across genders. Males and females have similarly-sized legs proportionate to their bodies.
Here is a comparison of average leg measurements by gender for two common species:
| Species | Sex | Leg Length |
|---|---|---|
| Ruby-throated hummingbird | Male | 10-13 mm |
| Ruby-throated hummingbird | Female | 10-13 mm |
| Black-chinned hummingbird | Male | 11-12 mm |
| Black-chinned hummingbird | Female | 11-12 mm |
As you can see, males and females have nearly identical leg proportions relative to their body size. This consistent short leg anatomy allows excellent hover-feeding capabilities across both sexes.
While males may have slightly longer wingspans and body mass in some species, they do not carry this larger size over to their legs. So leg size is not a distinguishing feature between hummingbird genders.
Do hummingbird legs vary across species?
There is relatively little variation in leg proportions across different hummingbird species. As a specialized family of birds dependent on hover-feeding, all hummingbirds need compact, short legs to thrive.
Some subtle leg differences occur mainly due to overall body size differences:
- Larger hummingbird species have slightly longer absolute leg lengths
- Smaller species have very short legs and feet
- But relative leg-to-body ratios remain constant
For example, here is a comparison of 3 differently-sized species:
| Species | Body Length | Leg Length | Leg/Body Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giant hummingbird | 8.5 in | 0.9 in | 11% |
| Ruby-throated hummingbird | 3.5 in | 0.5 in | 14% |
| Bee hummingbird | 2.25 in | 0.4 in | 13% |
So while absolute leg size correlates to body size, the relative proportions stay remarkably similar at 10-15% across all species. This allows specialized hover-feeding regardless of overall body dimensions.
Unusual hummingbird legs
While hummingbird legs share many common adaptations, a couple of species have evolved highly unusual structures:
Wedge-tailed sabrewing
This large hummingbird has dramatically longer legs than other species, at nearly 2 inches long. This may have evolved to access specialized food sources. But its legs still comprise just 15% of its 13 inch body, consistent with other hummingbirds.
Marvelous spatuletail
Males of this species have trailing feather extensions on their tail that can exceed their body length. They use specially adapted long legs and feet to manage these elaborate tail plumes during mating displays.
Plovercrest
Their legs are covered in thick feathers all the way down to their toes. This likely helps insulate their feet in cold mountain climates.
So while most hummingbirds share remarkably consistent leg proportions, some unusual adaptations like feathering and lengthening can occur. But these specializations do not detract from their consistent short leg-to-body ratios.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hummingbirds do not have particularly elongated legs compared to their tiny bodies. Their legs make up just 10-15% of their total length – much shorter than in other bird species. This compact leg size helps minimize weight and master fast-hovering flight.
While hummingbird legs serve some important functions like perching and clinging, extra length would be an unnecessary burden. Their specialized leg anatomy with shortened bones, limited muscling, and strong feet are perfectly adapted to their unique lifestyle.
So next time you marvel at their hovering capabilities, take a moment to appreciate the engineering wonder of hummingbird legs that make it all possible! Their remarkably short and optimized legs allow these smallest of birds to stay continuously airborne.
