The ruby-throated hummingbird in today"s homepage image is snacking on some yellow bells in the Texas Hill Country, preparing for its long journey south for the winter. This time of year, the hummingbirds leave the northern latitudes of the eastern US and Canada, migrating to the warmer climes of Mexico and Central America. Along their route, many will cross the Gulf of Mexico in a single 500-mile flight, which can take 18-22 hours of nonstop flying at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Tiny but fierce, the ruby-throated hummingbird weighs less than a nickel. It beats its wings about 53 times a second on average, but during courtship the wingbeat rate increases to 200 times per second, the fastest of any bird.
Tiny fliers head south
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
A growing business
-
A special day for a special cat
-
Yabba-Dabba-Doo!
-
Bear watching in the Finnish forest
-
Ponta da Piedade rock formations in Portugal
-
The Crown of the Continent
-
We re gonna need a bigger birdhouse
-
Monet still makes an impression
-
To Roswell, and beyond!
-
Every day is Napping Day for this screech owl
-
Behold the mighty Aldeyjarfoss
-
Is that a smile?
-
Isla del Pescado on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
-
Sweetheart Abbey, Scotland
-
Digging the birds
-
Norway s Kjeragbolten boulder
-
Happy 800th, Salisbury Cathedral
-
Great cormorants
-
Happy birthday, Saguaro National Park
-
Stuben am Arlberg, Austria