Gregory Millslagle

Yorktown, Virginia

Village Shops at Kiln Creek,
209 Village Ave., Suite A
Yorktown, VA 23693

Phone: (757) 875-1936
Fax: (757) 875-1937
Email: Send Message

Store Hours:
Mon - Sat: 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sun: 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

1. There are 325 species of HummingbirdS - 16 of which can be found in North America.
2. Hummingbirds are only found in North, Central and South America.
3. Hummingbirds eat about every 10 minutes and their food sources consist of nectar from us, flowers and insects.
4. Hummingbirds eat up to twice their body weight in insects and nectar each day.
5. They weigh about as much as a nickel or 1/10th of an ounce.
6. Their brains are about the size of a BB.
7. Hummingbirds have such weak legs that they cannot walk.
8. Hummingbirds are prey of frogs, praying mantis, spiders, toads, cats and other birds.
9. Hummingbirds can live up to 12 years but the average is 3-5 years tops.
10. These little acrobats can fly forward, backward, sideways, upside down and can hover for long periods of time.
11. They are the dragster of the bird world. Their top speed is 60 mph averaging 30-45 mph.
12. They have a flexible wing joint and unlike other birds that flap their wings, hummingbirds beat their wing in a figure 8 - not unlike treading water. This allows them to get lift on both the up and down stroke of their wings.
13. 13.  The tip of their tongue is actually forked!
14. 14.  Hummingbirds lap nectar at a rate of 12 times per second!
15. 15.  The females tongues are longer than the males. This allows the female access to a greater number of flowers since she is the only one that feeds the young.
16. 16.  Hummingbirds can extend their tongue out approximately a distance equal to the length of their bill.
17. 17.  Hummingbirds' bills are soft and very easily damaged.
18. 18.  The males and females do not pair bond. They maintain entirely separate territories and only meet on neutral ground to mate.
19. Hummingbirds return to the same breeding grounds year after year.
20. Hummingbirds will occasionally use old nests by repairing damage done during the winter months.
21. Their nest is constructed using tree bud scales, lichen, downy material from thistle and dandelion and they use tree sap and spider webs to hold everything together and to the tree limb.
22. Their eggs are about the size of a pea.
23. Hummingbirds often have two broods back to back. The female will in fact begin construction of the second nest while the first brood is still in the first nest and the second nest is rarely further away than a few yards from the first.
24. The females are very vulnerable during cool, wet weather. She's a dedicated mom who will not leave the nest to feed in bad weather and can literally starve while protecting her eggs and chicks from the cold.
25. Unfortunately, only about 20% of fledged birds survive their first year.
26. Banding shows that many birds pass through the same yards, on the same day, year after year.
27. Hummingbirds love to play in misters and sprinklers.
28. To watch their migration progress, please visit the migration map often. It's a good practice to begin putting your nectar feeders out the last week of April.