Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
These Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were photographed at a hummingbird feeder in a Camden,
Maine backyard. Usually containing a special sugarwater mix, hummingbird feeders
are an excellent way to attract hummingbirds in the northern parts of the United
States. These feeders imitate the flowers that hummingbirds feed on during the
winter months, in the Equatorial tropics. (Hummingbirds are Neo-Tropical Migrants,
meaning that they spend the winter in the Tropics and then migrate north in the summer
months.)
Hummingbirds are know for their amazing "hovering" ability, during which they beat
their wings 80 times a second. While flying they can move backward and in any
other direction as easily as forward, making them more advanced, better adapted and
overall cooler than any human-made flying machine so far.