Hummingbirds have a unique way of drinking water that allows them to drink while hovering in midair. Their specialized beaks and tongues allow them to quickly lap up water and swallow it while beating their wings up to 70 times per second.
How does a hummingbird’s beak help it drink?
A hummingbird has a long, slender, slightly downturned beak that allows it to reach into flowers and lap up nectar. This same beak shape allows hummingbirds to sip water from ponds, puddles, waterfalls, and bird baths.
The beak has a grooved or notched tongue that captures water through capillary action. When a hummingbird puts its beak into water, the grooves in the tongue cause water to wick up the grooves and into the mouth through capillary action. This allows a hummingbird to quickly take in water even while moving.
Beak adaptations
A hummingbird’s beak has several adaptations that help it drink efficiently:
- Long and slender – Allows the beak to reach into crevices and lap up water
- Slightly downturned – Perfect for reaching into flowers or water sources
- Flexible – The beak can bend to fit into differently shaped flowers
- Got rooved/notched tongue – Captures water through capillary action
How does a hummingbird’s tongue help it drink?
In addition to the beak adaptations, a hummingbird has a specially adapted tongue that allows it to drink while flying. The two tubes that make up the hummingbird’s tongue work through capillary action to pull water into the mouth.
Tongue adaptations
Key adaptations in a hummingbird’s tongue include:
- Forked tip – The two tube-like tines allow more surface area to collect water
- Fringed edges – Microscopic fringes along the tongue trap water through capillary action
- Grooved surface – Grooves running down the length of the tongue channel water via capillary action
- Fast contractions – The tongue quickly moves in and out of the beak to pull in water
As the hummingbird touches its tongue to water, the fringes trap water. Grooves on the surface of the tongue then channel the water up to the mouth through capillarity. The hummingbird rapidly moves its tongue in and out around 10-15 times per second to pull water into its mouth.
How does drinking while flying work?
Hummingbirds are specialized to be able to sip water while hovering in midair. Here is how they are able to drink on the wing:
- Rapid wing beats – Hummingbird wings beat up to 70 times per second, allowing them to hover in place.
- Flexible neck – The neck has more vertebrae than other birds, allowing more movement to precisely position the beak.
- Tongue adaptations – The tongue quickly moves in and out to pull up water.
- Coordination – Hovering in place while precisely coordinating beak, tongue, and neck movements requires precise muscle coordination.
By rapidly beating their wings while precisely maneuvering their head and tongue, hummingbirds can sip water while hovering suspended in air. High speed filming shows hummingbirds are able to dart their tongue in and out of water around 10-15 times per second while hovering.
Midair drinking in slow motion
Watching slow motion videos reveals how hummingbirds are able to drink on the wing:
- The hummingbird approaches the water source and hovers in place rapidly beating its wings.
- It precisely positions its beak in the water by extending its flexible neck.
- The bird touches just the tip of its tongue to the water as the fringed edges start trapping drops of water.
- It rapidly retracts its tongue, pulling the water up into its mouth through capillary action.
- This extension and retraction is repeated around 10-15 times per second.
- The water is stored in the tongue grooves and swallowed during pauses in the repetition.
This repeated rapid extension and retraction of the tongue allows hummingbirds to continue hovering while efficiently pulling in water to drink.
How much water do hummingbirds drink?
Hummingbirds have high metabolisms and require large amounts of energy. Here is how much water they need to consume:
- Up to 2-3 times their body weight per day
- Around 0.2-0.3 mL of water at a feeding
- Up to 150 feeding visits to flowers per day
Given their small size, this means hummingbirds may drink 50 mL or more of water per day. Their specialized drinking adaptation allows them to efficiently get all the water they need while continuously hovering and feeding on flower nectar.
Factors affecting water intake
The exact amount of water a hummingbird drinks each day can vary based on factors including:
- Age – Nestlings and juveniles drink the most relative to their size
- Activity level – More active birds drink more
- Climate conditions – Hot, dry weather increases water needs
- Availability of flowers – More flowers means more feeding time, requiring more water
- Time of year – Migrating and nesting birds have higher water needs
Hummingbirds are able to adapt and drink more or less water depending on these changing conditions and energy demands.
How do hummingbirds get enough water in the wild?
Hummingbirds have adaptions allowing them to get water in a variety of ways in the wild, including:
- Drinking rainwater caught in leaves, moss, and tree crevices
- Sipping from creeks, rivers, lakes, and ocean spray
- Lapping water from public and private bird baths and fountains
- Drinking early morning dew and sap from leaves and pinecones
- Eating juicy fruits that are up to 90% water
With their specialized tongues, hummingbirds are able to draw water from all these sources while hovering. This gives them a flexibility that allows them to thrive in a variety of climates and habitats.
Water Source | Examples |
---|---|
Precipitation | Rainwater, snow |
Bodies of water | Oceans, lakes, streams |
Plants | Leaves, moss, pinecones |
Fruit | Oranges, grapes, strawberries |
Bird baths | Hummingbird feeders, garden ponds |
This flexibility in water sources allows hummingbirds to thrive in a wide variety of ecosystems and environments.
Water needs by habitat
Depending on the biome where they live, hummingbirds get water through different adapted behaviors:
- Deserts – Drink rainwater caught in cactus depressions and succulent leaves
- Forests – Lick water droplets from leaves and moss
- Mountains – Drink snowmelt from alpine streams and lakes
- Grasslands – Feed from prairie wetlands and ponds
- Rainforests – Get water from bromeliads and sip moisture from wet leaves
How do hummingbirds bathe?
In addition to drinking, hummingbirds also need to bathe regularly to keep their feathers in good condition. They have some interesting adaptations for bathing while flying:
- Fluttering low over water – Hover just above the water surface and splash water up onto themselves with flapping wings or feet.
- Flying through spray – Fly back and forth through fine spray from waterfalls, lawn sprinklers, or misters.
- Bathing midair – Rub head and body feathers on wet leaves and branches while hovering.
- Rainbathing – Spread wings and tail and rotate body to expose all feathers to falling rain.
By bathing on the wing, hummingbirds are able to keep their feathers clean and waterproof without having to land.
Why midair bathing is preferred
Hummingbirds strongly prefer bathing while flying due to some key advantages:
- Avoid predators – Their small size makes them vulnerable on the ground.
- Conserve energy – Landing, bathing, and taking off again requires a lot of energy.
- Maintain body heat – Bathing on the wing allows them to conserve body heat.
- Dry while flying – Air currents while flying help dry them.
Midair bathing allows hummingbirds to stay safe and minimize energy use while keeping clean.
What do hummingbirds drink at feeders?
Hummingbirds will readily come to feeders to drink “nectar” made by home gardeners. Here’s what you need to know:
- 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water is a common ratio
- Do not add red food dye, honey, or artificial sweeteners
- Boil the mixture for 1-2 minutes to inhibit mold
- Store unused portion in the refrigerator for up to a week
- Change nectar in feeders every 2-3 days, or when cloudy
Feeders should also be kept clean to avoid spreading diseases between birds. Rinsing with a 10% non-chlorine bleach solution helps sanitize them.
Transitioning hummingbirds from feeders
Hummingbirds naturally feed on flower nectar in the wild. Here are tips for transitioning hummingbirds away from feeders:
- Slowly reduce the sugar concentration over two weeks
- Supplement with fruit halves nailed to a branch or skewer
- Provide a shallow dish of fresh water for drinking
- Plant native flowers and flowering vines to provide natural food sources
With some careful steps, hummingbirds can be encouraged to feed on their natural food sources again.
Unique adaptations allow specialized feeding
A hummingbird’s unique beak and tongue allow it to access food sources many other birds can’t. Here’s a summary of how these adaptations enable specialized feeding:
- Slender beak – Fits into long, narrow flower corollas like those of trumpet vine and salvia.
- Flexible tongue – Quickly laps up nectar with tongues that bend and curve.
- Tongue grooves – Capillary action draws nectar into the twin tubes.
- Hovering ability – Can stay suspended while feeding for extended periods.
- High metabolism – Needs to eat almost constantly to maintain energy.
Together these traits comprise an interconnected set of adaptations that allow hummingbirds to exploit food sources other birds can’t access. This evolutionary specialization is a key factor enabling hummingbirds to thrive around the world.
Unique among birds
Hummingbirds are the only family of birds able to eat while hovering. Some key reasons this ability is unique include:
- Small size – The smallest birds are able to hover most efficiently.
- Wing anatomy – Their wings connect to the body higher than other birds, enabling specialized motions.
- Enlarged chest muscles – Up to 25-30% of their weight is flight muscles, the highest of all birds.
- Rotating arms – They can rotate their arms in full circles to maintain lift.
- High metabolism – The fast metabolism provides energy for sustained hovering.
Evolution has shaped hummingbirds to possess this exceptional collection of anatomical traits perfectly adapted for feeding while hovering.
Conclusion
A hummingbird’s specialized tongue and beak allow it to nimbly collect liquid food while hovering midair. The tongue uses capillary action to draw nectar or water into the twin grooves and rapidly retracts to pull the liquid into the mouth. Coordinated with fast wing beats and flexible neck movements, this enables hummingbirds to feed while flying. These unique adaptations give hummingbirds exclusive access to certain flower nectars and allow them to exploit food sources other birds can’t, perfectly suiting them to their high-energy lifestyle.