The Lifeline

by Nick Boren

Title

The Lifeline

Artist

Nick Boren

Medium

Photograph - Nikon Photography

Description

Have you ever wondered how a hummingbird gets nectar from flowers, feeders,insects,etc?

Well if you look closely at the end of this Anna's hummingbird beak, you will see a rather long narrow tongue. That is how they do it!

I was fortunate to get this shot, because most hummers will not stick their tongues out unless they are feeding. This little guy was taking a little rest, but for some reason decided to stick his tongue out. Perhaps he was sticking it out at me, just for fun? :-)

Hummingbirds are my favorite birds, and I love watching them and photographing them in their natural environments.

Their tongues are their Lifeline!

From Wikipedia:

Across the estimated 366 species, hummingbird weights range from as small as 2 grams (0.071 oz) to as large as 20 grams (0.71 oz).[13][14] They have characteristic long, narrow beaks (bills) which may be straight of varying lengths or highly curved.[13][14] The bee hummingbird – only 6 centimetres (2.4 in) long and weighing about 2 grams (0.071 oz) – is the world's smallest bird and smallest warm-blooded vertebrate.[13][15]

Hummingbirds have compact bodies with relatively long, bladelike wings having anatomical structure enabling helicopter-like flight in any direction, including the ability to hover.[13][14] Particularly while hovering, the wing beats produce the humming sounds, which function to alert other birds.[13] In some species, the tail feathers produce sounds used by males during courtship flying.[13][14] Hummingbirds have extremely rapid wing-beats as high as 80 per second, supported by a high metabolic rate dependent on foraging for sugars from flower nectar.[6][14]

Uploaded

November 28th, 2023

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