Life Story Of The Hummingbird (1963)

[music] [music] [music] This motion picture is unusual. Because the incredibly tiny hummingbird, although unafraid of ladders, lights, and cameras, is difficult to photograph. Its movements are often swift and sudden. The hummingbird is the smallest of all birds. It averages 4 in in length. How much do they weigh? It may take 15 fully grown hummingbirds to weigh 1 ounce. And this mature female barely counterbalances a nickel. By means of high-speed photography, you can now see the hummingbird's wings in slow motion. The wings change pitch at the shoulders to provide lift at each stroke, much like the hands of a swimmer. This unique figure 8 movement enables the hummingbird to remain suspended or to fly backward as well as forward. This maneuverability enables it to feed in flight from nearly any position. The hummingbird is the only bird which can fly in any direction. Although its wings appear to be moving slowly, they are beating more than 60 times each second. Many hummingbirds are beautifully colored, especially on the throat and head. Colors are always more brilliant in the male bird. This color is caused by iridescence. The feathers contain no color pigments. They're not pigmented like this fruit, but reflect colored light like a prism or the facets of a jewel. Therefore, movement contributes to the illusion of color. And the colors seem to wink on and off and even change hue as the bird turns its head from side to side. Its tongue is long and sticky and perfectly adapted for extracting pollen and nectar and tiny insects from flowers. A hummingbird feeds as often as 50 times a day and investigates everything in its search for food. Since it's attracted by bright colors, it can be lured to your hand by colored water and will drink if the water is sweetened with sugar. Why does a small bird eat so much? Hummingbirds live in nearly every part of North and South America. This is a female caliptiana from the Pacific coast of California. It is more often called Anna's hummingbird. And this is the male caliptiana, one of the few hummingbirds which sing. He courts the female like this. Courtship continues with an extraordinary display by the male. While the hen waits, the flies skyward. She watches from the ground. The flies higher and higher until he's almost out of sight. Then he dives. What the female hears is the sound made by the cock's outer tail feathers. Listen carefully as he dives again. During such a dive, the may reach a speed of 60 m an hour. On his return to the ground, the pursues the female until she accepts him as her mate. The nesting season for Anna's hummingbird begins in December and lasts through August. Normally, the Anna builds several nests each season. In a single day, she makes more than 150 trips for nest building material. She builds her nest with greater care than many birds, fitting each bit of material into place and shaping it with her body. Twigs and grass, feathers and spiderw webs, and pieces of lychen are all skillfully woven together like this. Then she lines the nest with the softest material she can find. In this case, the female uses cotton from a closline rope and packs the lining layer on layer with her feet and body. The task of fitting and lining requires hours of patient effort before she is finished. The entire project takes almost a week. The result is a soft, warm nest about the size of a walnut shell, or just spacious enough for a bumblebee. The hen has now been nesting a week. On the seventh day, she leaves the nest and the first egg. For most of the day, she guards the egg. She feeds briefly, but at dusk returns to the nest to protect her egg from the cold. She covers it each night for the next two nights. In the morning of the third day, she lays a second egg. Normally, two eggs are all she will lay in a single nesting. The incredibly small scale of a hummingbird's world is revealed by this small bean. Inside each egg is a chick embryo. With a normal appetite for about 50 meals a day, the female's incessant need for food forces her to leave the eggs exposed frequently, but only for short periods of time. She feeds during the daylight hours when the eggs will maintain a safe temperature. Each time she returns to the nest, she brings new material for repair. Instinctively, she keeps the nest strong and warm. For a bird so small, a storm means danger. A cold beating rain is a hazard which could destroy her eggs. Incubation can last from 12 to 18 days. Incubation is the time between the laying and the hatching of the egg. Why does the time required for incubation differ with each egg? Her first egg is ready to hatch on the 15th day. And the first chick hatches while she hovers over the nest. She does not feed the chick immediately. When the chick is free of its shell, she covers the nest and incubates her second egg. Not until 2 hours later does she feed her hungry chick. As with most newly hatched nestlings, the chick receives predigested food. In this way, she nurses her nestling until its digestion can accommodate a normal diet. At this critical time, she must not neglect her second egg. On the 16th day of incubation, the second egg hatches. Now she has two ravenous appetites to satisfy. As before, she watches the chick during the hatching. She does not assist. She makes sure it is safely clear of the shell, then turns all her attention to the feeding of her young. Now that her chicks are hatched, she has neither time nor energy for careful housekeeping. So she clears the nest of shells with her wings. The nestlings are helpless. Their eyes are closed. And in the first days after hatching, they require countless feedings. Their diet continues to be predigested, their hunger perpetual. They also demand the warmth of her body. After a week, the nestlings have enough feathers to protect them from the cold, and their eyes are open. Two weeks after hatching, they crowd the nest. This is their progress in just 14 days. Their beaks grow longer, and by the time they can fly, they will be able to feed from flowers. Covering the nestlings is now difficult. Since she can find no room for herself, she leaves the nest. For the first time since hatching, the chicks are alone in the nest at night, while the hen takes an undisturbed rest, her feathers fluffed against the cold. To the chicks, rain is strange and uncomfortable, but the hen no longer gives them protection. 17 days after hatching, the chick's back is covered with iridescent feathers. Thus far, they've been totally dependent on their mother. Now the fledglings begin to exercise their well- feathered wings. Unlike most birds, they practice flying before they leave the nest. The mother waits. To get the fledglings to fly, she first feeds Then she leaves them while they're still hungry. She flies above them. She uses food to tempt the chick higher. Her second fledgling lags. But hunger is a strong incentive and the need for food is continuous. You have seen the life cycle of the hummingbird, smallest of all birds. Next spring, when the chicks are old enough to mate, the life story will begin again. [music]