Hummingbird's Color Changing Feathers

Hummingbirds can flash their bright colors, as well as hide them when needed.

 Picture from Graham Owen Gallery

The bright radiant color on hummingbirds comes from iridescent coloring within their top layer of feathers, like on a soap bubble or prism. Hummingbirds are able to change their colors by simply shifting their position.

Hummingbirds (AKA Hungry Birds)

If humans had the metabolism of a hummingbird, they would have to eat about 155,000 calories a day.

Picture from Hummingbirds.net

 They may be the tiniest birds on the planet, but hummingbirds are the biggest eaters. In fact, no animal has a faster metabolism—roughly 100 times that of an elephant. Hummingbirds burn food so fast they often eat 1-1/2 to 3 times their weight in nectar and insects per day.

Picture Of The Week - Guess What?

When we saw this picture pop up on our Tumblr feed, we were intrigued, then surprised. And we knew we had to share it with our readers! Can you tell what this? We'll give you three guesses.

1) Did you guess it was some kind of two-headed snake? Sorry, wrong!

2) Did you think it was possibly an exotic bug? Wrong!

3) Maybe a newly-discovered underwater sea creature? Also wrong!

This was a bit of a trick question, since this is a magnified image. This is actually the tip of a hummingbird tongue, which is forked and able to curl into a straw shape so they can suck nectar out of flowers or feeders. The picture is one of a series from the book "Microcosmos" by author Brandon Broll, which includes images of everyday objects magnified up to 22 millions times!

To see a hummingbird's tongue in action, watch the video below!

Fun Hummingbird Facts

* Hummingbird’s consume half of their weight in food daily.

* Hummingbirds are found only in North America and South America.

* Hummingbirds travel at an average 25 miles per hour, with wingbeats of anywhere from 10-15 per second in the Giant Hummingbird, up to 80 per minute by the Amethyst Woodstar.

* A hummingbird can starve to death in as little as two hours, if still active.

* Hummingbirds are so small, that an insect, the Praying Mantis is its natural enemy.

* It's the only bird that can hover, and fly backwards as well as straight up or down.

* Hummingbirds can't walk.

Need facts about another animal? Visit The Jungle Store's Animal Facts Page! If you still can't find what you're looking for, email info@thejunglestore.com with your questions.