* Roughly 25 to 30 percent of a hummingbird’s weight is in its pectoral muscles. These are the broad chest muscles principally responsible for flight.
* A hummingbird’s maximum forward flight speed is 30 miles per hour. These birds can reach up to 60 miles per hour in a dive, and hummingbirds have many adaptations for unique flight.
* Hummingbirds lay the smallest eggs of all birds. Their eggs measure less than 1/2 inch long but may represent as much as 10 percent of the mother’s weight at the time the eggs are laid. A hummingbird egg is smaller than a jelly bean!
* A hummingbird must consume approximately 1/2 of its weight in sugar daily, and the average hummingbird feeds 5 to 8 times per hour. In addition to nectar, these birds also eat many small insects and spiders, and may also sip tree sap or juice from broken fruits.
* A hummingbird’s wings beat between 50 and 200 flaps per second depending on the direction of flight, the purpose of their flight and the surrounding air conditions.
* An average hummingbird’s heart rate is more than 1,200 beats per minute. In comparison, a human's average heart rate is only 60 to 100 beats per minute at rest.
* At rest, a hummingbird takes an average of 250 breaths per minute. Their breathing pace will increase when they are in flight.
* The rufous hummingbird has the longest migration of any hummingbird species. These hummers fly more than 3,000 miles from their nesting groundsin Alaska and Canada to their winter habitat in Mexico.