Hover-Worthy Facts:
- As they zip through the air, their wings make a loud, metallic ringing sound that sounds like a tiny cricket or whistle.
- Male broad-tailed hummingbirds have a patch of bright, iridescent rose-magenta feathers under their chin that flashes like a pink jewel in the sun.
- Unlike many tiny animals, they love high elevations and fly right up into the cool New Mexico mountain forests to build their nests.
- Mountain nights get cold. To stay alive, these birds enter a deep sleep called torpor, slowing their heartbeat and dropping their body temperature to match the chilly air.
- To impress females, the males fly up to 100 feet straight into the sky and then zoom down in a massive, high-speed dive.
- Because they are so active, they need to keep moving and eat sweet nectar or tiny bugs about every 15 minutes!
- The memory of a broad-tailed hummingbird is so impressive that they can remember every single flower and backyard sugar-water feeder from the year before.
- Mama broad-tailed hummingbirds are excellent builders. They will fly back to the same tree year after year, sometimes building a brand-new nest right on top of their old one.
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High Desert Helpers is sponsored through the Trails+ Grant Program by the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division.
