At the end of March, a Black-chinned Hummingbird buzzed by a window in Dripping Springs, Texas, beneath which a large, lush Salvia greggii (Autumn sage) would normally be in bloom, its hot pink flowers offering a bountiful nectar repast. The hummingbird’s spring migration to Texas from Central America or Mexico is an energy-consuming trip. As described by Hummingbird Central:
“During migration, a hummingbird’s heart beats up to 1,260 times a minute, and its wings flap 15 to 80 times a second. To support this high energy level, a hummingbird will typically gain 25-40% of their body weight before they start migration in order to make the long trek over land, and water…Hummingbirds fly by day when nectar sources such as flowers are more abundant.”
But this spring, in the wake of the devastating winter storm in February, only some new green leaves bunched around the plant’s base greeted the tiny traveler. Thanks to their high metabolism, hummingbirds famously live on the brink of starvation, going into torpor (hibernation) to conserve energy at night so they don’t starve to death before morning. So, what happens when hummingbirds arrive to find normally available nectar sources have disappeared?
Hummingbirds don’t just eat nectar
Today it’s virtually impossible to not associate hummingbirds with ubiquitous red feeders but those are relatively new inventions. The first commercially available hummingbird feeder hit the market in 1950. In 2004, it was reported that 30 million-year-old hummingbird fossils were found in southern Germany. Hummingbirds have managed to survive without plastic yellow flowers and sugar water for a while. Although they may not need man-made assistance, they do need nectar to survive, but it’s not all they need. Hummingbirds need protein and fats which is why they also eat insects. They eat gnats, ants, aphids, mites, beetles, mosquitoes, spiders, and fruit flies. (If you’ve never seen a hummingbird catch and eat an insect, check out this video on YouTube.) Indeed, some hummingbird enthusiasts place overripe bananas or other fruit near their feeders to attract tiny fruit flies to serve as source of protein for the wee birds. It’s also believed that the hummingbirds sip the juice of overripe fruit as a nectar substitute. A Birdwatcher’s Digest article notes that “drinking the juices of fruits has been witnessed enough times that it is no longer considered an unusual occurrence.”
Nectar substitutes for hummingbirds
We’ve all been there—only Pepsi is available when you order a Coke. Sometimes you have no choice when you need that sweet, quick fuel. Same goes for hummingbirds. As described above, they will drink fruit juice and, when nectar from flowers isn’t readily available, they will lap up tree sap including that sap released by the work of sapsuckers. In its profile of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Travis Audubon highlights the larger bird’s relationship to hummingbirds (and others) as a food provider:
“If you’ve ever come across a tree with a row of holes drilled into its bark, you’ve likely seen the handiwork of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: true to its name, this boldly patterned woodpecker uses its stout bill to drill holes into the cambium of trees, causing sap to flow out. These holes, called sapwells, are an important resource for many species of animals besides sapsuckers. Insects, bats, squirrels, and even porcupines make use of sap wells, to say nothing of hummingbirds. Hummingbirds have a special relationship with sapsuckers: they time their spring migration so as to arrive when the sapwells have begun to flow. In addition to the sap itself, hummingbirds also feed on insects that are attracted to the sweetness. Hummingbirds can be exceedingly protective of these natural ‘feeders,’ patrolling the choicest trees and chasing off other birds that attempt to feed from them!”
To watch a hummingbird taking advantage of a sapsucker’s efforts, check out the BBC’s video footage for “Hummingbird’s sweet survival trick.”
Hummingbirds eat ash and sand
In addition to protein and fats, hummingbirds also need vitamins and minerals, some of which may be acquired through ash and sand. In the 1994 study, “Hummingbirds Eating Ashes,” the author found that nesting female hummingbirds repeatedly licked and probably consumed “powdery, gray wood ashes.” The study describes a hummingbird visiting a dead campfire or barbecue pit to lick the fine ash that had fallen from the charred wood. Wood ash, it’s noted, “is surprisingly rich in calcium.” Additional cited studies suggest that “this behavior is in response to the calcium deficit accrued from egg production.”
In the 1970 study, “Hummingbirds Feeding on Sand” the author describes a female hummingbird that “appeared to be eating sand.” From the observations: “I saw a female hovering near the ground and poking her bill about 5 mm into the sand. The bill was opened at the tip about 3 mm. After a few pecks, still hovering, she flicked her tongue in and out, then resumed pecking. Each visit lasted about 25 set and was always followed by bill-wiping on a nearby branch.” As with the ash-eating hummingbird study, the explanation for this behavior is attributed to the birds needing additional minerals in their diet during nesting season.
Although the above observations focused on hummingbirds ingesting minerals for nesting season, a Scientific American report indicates an additional need for hummingbirds to replenish minerals:
“The urine they produce every day might amount to anywhere between 56 and 149% of body mass…For comparison, the urine normally produced by a human in a day amounts to somewhere between 1.5 and 2.5% of body mass. This copious peeing means that hummingbirds are forced to expel a significant amount of the electrolytes their bodies contain: studies of Broad-tailed hummingbirds S. platycercus indicate that they need to replace about 14% of their sodium and potassium requirements every single day…So this might also link to that ingestion of sediment and ash particles…”
Ultimately, hummingbirds do need nectar—lots of it—as every day they typically consume their body weight or more in nectar, 75-80% of which is water, hence the “copious peeing “ (hummingbirds are one of the few bird species that pee). But if that Salvia greggii isn’t blooming just yet, these scrappy, little birds that can migrate thousands of miles, fly across the Gulf of Mexico, and buzz by your window, may still find a way to survive. Just ask the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Photo by Griffin Wooldridge on Unsplash
