Hummingbirds


 * Ruby-throated Hummingbirds **


 * Scientific Classification:**[[image:imagesCAD7SWNA.jpg align="right" caption="A Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is drinking a sweet liquid called nectar from the inside of the flower."]]
 * < Domain ||< Eukaryota ||
 * < Kingdom ||< Animalia ||
 * < Phylum ||< Chordata ||
 * < Class ||< Aves ||
 * < Order ||< Apodiformes ||
 * < Family ||< Trochilidae ||
 * < Genus ||< //Archilochus// ||
 * < Species ||< //colubris// ||


 * Habitat:**

The Western Hemisphere is the only place where Ruby-throated Hummingbirds breed the most. Hummingbirds migrate to lots of places such as Florida to the Gulf Coast and Mexico and other states like Texas. During breeding season and time, they breed from Florida to Maine, the Great Plains to the Rockies, Texas to Canada and the Alberta. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are found in North America, in the south of Canada and the eastern United States during breeding time in the summer and in the winter, they are found in different places by changing its location. Its habitat depends on the seasons which is summer and winter and is base on the environment and surroundings that they stay to breed and nest. They are well adapted to the humans environment and can be found in peoples' backyard, in trees, bushes, shrubs, and wooded place. They drink a sweet drink from the inside of flowers called nector and used trees to make nests and to breeds. During summer season, they could be found between meadow and woodland areas and in humans environment because of trees and flowers. Humans environment such as woodland parks, shrubs and trees is their habitat during this seasons to go find and drink nectar. During winter, they like to stay in forests that are clear and have dead plants and twigs for them to get to make nests. These Ruby-throated Hummingbirds habitat's are based on the seasons like summer and winter because of the different things that each seasons will have and the hummingbirds will need for that time of period and or season to make, breed and live.


 * Physiology:**

Hummingbirds have very unique physiology and they are the tongue, bill, digestive, circulatory, respiratory, excretion, musculoskeletal, brain/nervous system, glandular, and skeleton. These Ruby-throated Hummingbirds' tongue are split and have a rubbing tips of the tongue which allow them to brush and suck nectar (easily) and can drink nectar up to thirteen times per second. Their bill is approximately 15-20 millimeters long and widely hard enough to be open to which they can open up to one centimeter wide only. It has a long digestive tract tube that holds some organs such as cloaca, gizzards and intestines and have the proventriculus stage- the first stage of digestive. Its small intestine is 5cm and the liver weight can increase and decrease overtime due to migration and its habitat time of period/seasons. Overall, hummingbirds have no gall bladder due to make its flight easier by weighting less. Its heart beats approximately 250 times per minute and approximately 1,220 per minute when flying. The heart have a left and right side that operates its own duty by each holding different bloods. Its body temperature may decrease at night time from 40.5 degrees C to approximately 21 degrees C which is called torpor, letting itself to decrease its energy for the night. Hummingbirds respiratory system is located at the bottom of its bill and gets air or fresh air from there. Its liquid waste go to its kidney when being drank then go to the cloaca with the other urine and that is how the excretion functions. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds significant muscles is the pectoral muscles/majors because these muscles controls the wings to make the hummingbirds to be able to fly. Its muscles are one fourth of its body weight and its thick and large muscles is the supracoracoideus muscles that makes the wings lift up. Its optic lobes and cerebellum are comprehensive to control the flying stages and itself. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds glandular system have ductless glands that controls the behavior, digestion and other systems. Hummingbirds can fly backwards and upside down and are the only birds in the world that could because they have a unique body by having the sternum and wings joined together which let the wings moved smooth to make them able to fly backwards.


 * Species Interactions:**

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are predators to small in little insects such as, ants, beetles, flies and bees. Its obligation is to pollinate flowers and maybe plants which it drink the nectar and studies have shown that it will eat its prey a lot more than drinking nectar during winter season. It hunt its preys by searching them in these little holes found in tree trunks made by woodpeckers because these minute, little holes contains the trees sugars called ooze sap which little and small insects like so much. That is not the only thing or place it can find its food because it can find its food and or prey when it pollinate plants and flowers and sometimes by not even realizing it. It can catch its prey pretty fast even the naked eyes couldn't even see what it is doing or what it is catching. They are prey to Bullfrogs, Preying Mantises, Sharp-shinned hawks, and Orb-weaver Spiders and may be Black Ratsnakes as well. Its eggs are prey to climbing trees animals like chipmunks, squirrels, and Black Ratsnakes.

During breeding seasons, the male hummingbirds will try to attract the female hummingbirds by making its wings sounds loud while showing the "courtship flights" which is a flight that the male speed upward to 15m and then back down to make a "U-shaped pattern" to attract the females. There will be several male showing off to the females and after the males finish showing off its flight, the female will choose which male to mate with. The female hummingbirds reproductive system will only functions at the period of time when it comes to breeding which also based on the seasons. Hummingbirds usually will lay about two eggs. For the male hummingbirds, it hold its sperms in the cloaca. For the female hummingbirds, when it is not the time to breed, its ovaries and breeding organs will be small until breeding time due to flight and activities. When it is breeding time the male will touch its cloaca to the female's cloaca and that is how the sperm get transfer. Then the female will find a place to build its nest and will collect twigs and sticks to make its nest. The female have a left and right ovaries and only one will functions which is the left, due to flight and its weight. The female will originate a yolk in its ovaries and then will be transfer to the oviduct. During the reproductive system, if the offspring makes it, it will travel its way to reach the egg white called albumen gland and then it will travel to the shell gland, which is the last stage and is the protective part for the eggs. The last part, the female will laid its eggs and take care of it. Throughout the reproduction, the eggs have been receiving some good things, such as, nutrients and calcium along with proteins to help the eggs developed and be healthy.
 * Reproduction:**


 * Free Topic:**

__The Life, Facts, and History of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds__ Once again, hummingbirds are the only birds in the world that can fly backward and upside down because they are created and born in a unique way to have these amazing adaptation. When hummingbirds fly, they don't fly like other birds--moving its wings up and down but forward and and backward into a number eight. The female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are bigger than the male by 15% to 20%. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds eats its prey to receive proteins to make fats, muscles, and other parts of its body to live as it is for flying, migrating, and its activeness. When they migrate and fly forward, they goes 40kph and up, 65kph when doing a courtship flight, and moves its wings to approximately 80 beat or times per second. Its heart size weight approximately 2.5% and its muscle (flight) weight approximately 25%. Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist who studies taxonomy, gave the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds its scientific name. Apodiformes is its order name because it stands for "no feet" to which people think that they fly so they don't need feet and Trochilidae means a small bird from Greek name for its family. The species name //Archilochus// means "first in importance" and //colubris// means "an ambush" from the Greek words. Hummingbirds lived usually almost to its first year and some, 3 years. The oldest hummingbird is 9 years old.

Dunn, J.L. & Alderfer, J., Editors. 2006. //__ National Geographic __ Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition.// National Geographic Society. 15 Apr 2011. "RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD." //Operation Ruby Throat// n. pg. Web. 13 Apr 2011. []
 * Works Cited:**