What makes a Hummingbird so unique?

And now, it’s time for Who’s Smarted. Pssst, hey smarty pants, trusty narrator, coming to you from my backyard, where I’ve just finished setting up a unique type of bird feeder. It was a gift from my friend, Lena, the ornithologist.

Do you remember what an ornithologist studies? Did you say birds? Great job. You might remember Lena from our Birds of Prey episode. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to attract raptors. Lena said that if I hung this particular feeder from the ceiling on my back porch, and followed some simple directions, that it would see lots of bird action.

And maybe, just maybe, something magical might happen. Smarty pants, see if you can guess what type of bird this feeder will attract. Here’s a hint. This bird feeder doesn’t look like the ones you see that are made of wood with a round hole cutout.

Instead, this one is made of glass, has tiny openings at the base, is red, and kind of looks like a small pineapple. I just filled it with hot water, mixed with sugar, and shook it up. So what are you thinking?

Call out some birds. I heard Robin. Good guess. Bluebird. Another good guess. Big bird. Not so much. Here’s a hint. Did you get that? Here it is again. Did you say hummingbird? Yes. That’s right. This feeder is meant to attract hummingbirds.

Oh, I must have done something right. I think I hear one coming in for a landing right now. Wow. How cool is this? It’s just hovering above my brand new bird feeder, like a helicopter. It’s coming in for a landing.

Oh, it’s resting on a little bar inside the feeder. He, or she, is so cute. Aww. And now it’s drinking. Woohoo! It’s sword -like beak fits perfectly into the tiny holes at the base of the feeder to lick up all the sugar water.

Wow. It sure is drinking a lot. I guess flapping your wings so fast can make you pretty thirsty. you

Ah, delicious. Thanks, friend. This is a beautiful feeder you’ve got here. I appreciate the craftsmanship. And the high quality sugar water, of course.

Ha, okay. Where are you hiding, Lina? The joke’s over.

Who are you talking to?

Okay, okay, you got me. You can come on out now, Lena. The joke’s over.

Joke? What joke?

Seriously, Lina, when did you become a ventriloquist? I gotta say, it really does look like the hummingbird is talking.

Um, that’s because I am talking. Haven’t you ever spoken to a bird before?

Yes, but they usually don’t speak back. Then again, this is Who Smarted. Pretty much anything can talk. After 400 episodes, you’d think I’d be used to it by now.

Who smarted? Huh? Sounds like you’re saying who farted.

Yes, yes, we all get the joke. Um, if you can talk, I’m guessing you have a name. Sure do. It’s Hannah. Hi, Hannah the Hummingbird. I’m trusty the narrator.

Nice to meet you, and just so you know, I’m not just any hummingbird, I’m a ruby -throated hummingbird.

Ruby, huh? I suppose there’s no place like home.

I don’t get it.

Never mind. Your feet look too small for slippers anyhow. Moving on. Since you decided to drop in… Perhaps you could flap your gums and your wings and help me and the smarty pants learn more about hummingbirds.

Things like, how are you able to perfectly suspend yourself in mid -air, and even fly backwards? How fast are your wings moving? And is it true that in the winter, many of you gain up to 40% of your body weight in order to fly across the Gulf of Mexico before settling in Central America?

Whoa! Great questions, Trustee! Thanks!

And I look forward to your answers. Looks like it’s time for another whiff of science and history on… …The Smart Act!

Who’s smarted? Who’s smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science? Or history? Listen up!

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Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free when you go to greenlight .com backslash smarted. That’s greenlight .com backslash smarted to try Greenlight for free. Okay, Hannah, as you may or may not know, the smarty pants love playing guessing games.

Sure! Who doesn’t? Am I right?

I guess. You mentioned that your particular species is called ruby -throated. Before we get into that, let’s see if they can guess how many species of hummingbirds there are.

Good, trusty. OK, smarty pants, what do you think? Are there 100 species of hummingbirds, 200 species, or over 300 species of hummingbirds? If you want to learn more about hummingbirds,

You said there are over 300 species of hummingbirds. You’re right. Nice going, smarty pants. So, Hannah, where can most of these species be found? I’m guessing hummingbirds wouldn’t want to live in cold climates.

Oh, you got that right, Trusty. Hunting birds can only be found in the Western Hemisphere. Those of us who live in the US and Canada during the warmer months most definitely head south for the winter to Central America and Mexico.

Unlike many species of bird, we are not built for cold climates at all.

That makes sense. Although, ironically, your fast -flapping wings are actually providing me with a little breeze. Sorry about that, Trusty. Actually, it’s warm out today. I don’t mind. Continuing on, what else can you tell us about hummingbird migration?

Well, hummingbirds usually begin our migration process once the daylight hours start to diminish or get shorter. That’s when we’re out of here. It’s also around the time that all the delicious nectar we get from flowers and the yummy protein from insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, and fruit flies become way less abundant.

That makes sense. With less sunlight, and less food, and drink, it’s time to pack up and go. And when do you come back?

That depends. Usually we don’t come back until springtime. But for the birds that live for their self, they tend to come back much earlier. That’s because it gets warmer sooner.

Gotcha. You mentioned nectar. What’s the story with that?

Well, for one thing, it’s a very flowery story. You see, my particular species tends to enjoy flowers that have a funnel or tuba shape to them. Such as honeysuckle, petunia, and fuchsia.

Oh yeah?

Why is that? Unlike other birds whose beaks are short and stubby, hummingbirds are known for our long needle -like beaks that act as straws. We love to dip deep into the middle of these types of flowers, while hovering above them.

We literally suck up all the nectar with our tongues. We’ll visit hundreds of flowers each day.

Got it! I sometimes do that with pizzerias! Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. Now, Hannah, I believe I read somewhere that for hummingbirds to make that long migration down south, you need to gain weight. Something like 25 to 40% of your entire body weight?

That would be like someone who weighed 100 pounds, suddenly gaining an extra 25 to 40 pounds, or someone who weighed 45 kilograms, gaining an extra nine to 18 kilograms.

Yep, it’s a lot of extra weight for us little hummingbirds to put on, but we need to do it. But why? Well, for one thing, the trip takes us about a week or two depending on how many stops we make along the way.

And whether there’s a decent tailwind behind us.

Ah, and I guess you can’t really pack any snacks for the trip.

Nope. That’s where the extra weight comes in handy. I see.

So how do you know where to go? Hummingbirds don’t have GPS. Do you ever get lost?

No! We always follow the same route, the one we first used when we were young. Hummingbirds are known to have fantastic memory, so no GPS required.

Whoa. I must say your wings must get exhausted flying that far away.

Hm, speaking of wings, wanna see something neat?

Sure, me and the smartypants love Neat.

Hold out your palm, as if you’re trying to stop traffic.

God.

Perfect! Now check this out. I’m going to fly up to the top of that really tall oak tree over there. Then I’m going to fly right towards your hand. I want you to yell stop when you think I’m about to crash into you.

Got it?

Are you kidding? You’re gonna hurt yourself, Hannah!

You’ll see! Here I go! Alright Trusty! You ready? Here I come!

Oh boy, here she comes. What do you think’s gonna happen, smarty pants? And stop! Hey, you didn’t crash! Nope! Pretty cool, huh? I’ll say. How are you able to stop so suddenly? You must have been traveling close to 50 miles or 80 kilometers per hour.

It’s not like you have brakes.

Nope, but our wings are built quite differently from other birds.

I see. And we’ll all learn exactly how, right after this quick break. Hey, parents. Trusty here. I love making it easy for people to learn new things. Shocker, right? So when my friend told me he was about to spend almost a thousand dollars on language lessons to get ready for his trip to Spain, I said, hold on there.

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Trust me, it’s a game changer. Now back to Who Smarted. Hannah just did an amazing demonstration of her stopping and hovering ability. The question is, how is she able to do it? Smarty Pants, if you can, take one hand and make the letter C with all your fingers.

Then take the other hand and ball it up into a fist. Then I want you to put your fist hand inside your letter C hand. Next, try twisting your fist in different directions. Notice how you can roll it around.

That’s what’s happening with a hummingbird’s wing.

And this is what allows us to come to a fast stop and then just hover. In fact, we’re creating a figure eight with each movement when we hover and our tails act as a stabilizer to keep us in place. you

Smarty Pants, true or false? Hummingbirds are the only bird capable of flying backwards. The answer is? Whoa. That’s incredible. Such maneuvers.

Uh -huh! Say, are you and the smarty pants ready for another guessing game?

Of course they are, right, Smarties? See?

Great! Here it is! A hummingbird’s wings move so quickly that humans can’t possibly see how many times per second we’re flapping them. So, what do you think? Is it A, 10 times per second, B, 25 times per second, or C, over 50 times per second?

If you said C, over 50 times per second, you’d be right!

Wow, that’s fast! And I guess it’s that constant rapid movement that’s producing the humming -like sound. And not you actually humming.

Yeah, hummingbirds don’t hum, it’s all in the wings.

Hey, it looks like we have company. I see some of your hummingbird friends hovering nearby. Looks like the word is out on the sugar water.

Ha, ha, ha! It sure is! Thanks again for building and hanging this lovely bird feeder for us!

My pleasure. And I’ll let my friend Lina know how much you and your friends like it too.

Oh! Is she the one who studies raptors like hawks?

Yes. Oh no. Do hawks try to eat hummingbirds?

Not unless it’s really hungry. We’re not big or meaty enough to provide a good meal. And speaking of meals, all this talking’s making me thirsty. I could use some more sugar water.

A double dose of shout -out to Antonio and Alejandro in San Diego, California. You told us you love the silky fart sound effects. Or was that supposed to be silly? Well, either way, silky or silly, we love that you love farting.

I mean, smarting, with Who’s Smarted? This episode, Hummingbirds, was written by Dave Davis and voiced by Melissa del Toro and Jerry Colber, technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn. Who’s Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.

Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who’s Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colber.

This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.

Who’s smarted? Star Glove!

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