Kathy Kuklisf Age 7. Of Allentown., Pa., for her question:
What makes a hummingbird hum.?
The little hummingbirds have already arrived back to build their midget nests and bring up their midget babies. The ruby throated hummingbirds have spread all. Through the eastern and mid western states. More than 15 different hummingbirds have started their housekeeping along the pacific coast and in the south western deserts.
A hummingbird is just a few inches long., and you might think such a .small fellow would be timid. But not at all. The hummer is a bold little bird., and nothing seems to scare him. Perhaps this is because he feels safe. He is as quick as a dragonfly and just as hard to catch.
Come summer, you see him darting around the garden from flower to flower. For a moment., he stands still in the air, hovering like a helicopter. His bright little eyes are choosing a blossom, then he zooms toward his target and stops still in the air while his long beak dips down into the throat of the flower. He may be sipping nectar or using his long tongue to catch a bug. Lunch takes but a minute. Then away the little hummer darts like a speeding arrow.
If you keep still and quiet, the busy hummingbird may come quite close to you. Then you hear his purring hum. The soft noise is coming from his tiny wings. They are moving so fast that all you can see of them is a fuzzy blur. The hummerrs wings beat the air 60 or 70 times every second and this fast beating in the air makes the humming sound
The hammer has the most amazing wings in the bird world. Most birds flap their wings up and down. The small hammer can turn his wings around in circles. This is the reason he can do his acrobatics in the air.
He can hover in one spot; he can take off straight up into the air.. And he can fly backward. And all the time his tiny wings are beating 3000 to 4000 times each minute.
The ruby throated hummingbird nests in pennsylvania and other eastern states. Most of his body is covered with feathers of shimmering emerald green. His chest is marked with white, and his tail is a fan of tiny black ribbons. Under his chin, he wears a neck bib of radiant ruby red. Mrs. Ruby throat does not wear the red bib.
The nest of the ruby throated hummer looks like half a walnut shell. It is set firmly where two twigs meet, perhaps 20 feet above the ground. The outside is made of lichens glued together with spit and spider web. The inside is lined with dandelion fluff or other plant down. There are two miniature white eggs,, and the newly hatched twins will be just big enough to fill half a teaspoon.