The Marvelous World Of Hummingbirds (PHOTOS)

In honor of Earth Day, we've teamed up with National Geographic to bring you photos that celebrate the beauty of nature, as we did early this week with a look at national parks. This time, we're focusing on hummingbirds, the marvelous bird that hovers in flight. There are about 330 species of hummingbirds, and here you'll find a diverse, colorful range. Take a look, and vote for your favorite hummingbird!

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See more photos at National Geographic's online photo community, My Shot. Watch hummingbird video from National Geographic.

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See more photos at National Geographic's online photo community, My Shot. Watch hummingbird video from National Geographic.

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Comments

[MerryW]

08:42 PM on 04/30/2010

Hummingbirds have a busy and hard life. They always get to work and "get'er done." I love these pics and I enjoy my hummers on the front porch where I hang six feeders. They flit and talk and flirt and fight. They know the usual people who use the porch and many do not leave when we approach. They are a beautiful inspiration.
Thanks for these great and varied photos.

[smacc1]

05:32 PM on 04/25/2010

Cool little birdies :)

[LMPE]

02:58 PM on 04/25/2010

The hum also rises.

[KellyRyan]

04:39 PM on 04/25/2010

***smile***

Equally pleasant experience, reading the posts as well as seeing the photos. My hummingbirds haven't appeared yet. We've had frequent rain and that may be creating the delay.

The yard is, however, filled with rabbits and lizards.

[Ken Maddox]

02:57 PM on 04/25/2010

I couldn't look at the photo's because of a stupid ad with a monkey.

[padrushka]

07:41 AM on 04/25/2010

how wonderful!! hummingbirds are incredibly fascinating and i always enjoy photographs.

[cincinnati]

12:47 AM on 04/25/2010

I generally like NG, but they did a real hack job on the
serious questions about 9-11. They insulted those
who dare to question, and then on the screen would
put .. The Experts [say..],
which often was just blindly following what the
too fast and too weak investigation came up with.

1,000 arch/engineers say Building 7 coming dow
that fast could ONLY be from controlled demo.
Simple demand a new investigation of that and
some other simple so-called facts, what's to lose
unless someone is hiding something.

Take a look at some of the better youtube about this.

[ponderingmuch]

04:47 AM on 04/25/2010

I have no idea what powers conspired to make 9/11 happen, but I do not see National Geo graphic's pictures of hummingbirds to be at fault or cause.

[cincinnati]

10:17 PM on 04/25/2010

Of course not, and like I said I like NG, but their reputation unfortunately has been harmed by their 9-11 program. Don't believe me, watch it, ask yourself if it is fair to the thousands of respected people who question the investigation. Don't be misled by the few nuts making wild claims, there are many who, like in the military, ask very logical and basic questions. You would not have to know anything about 9-11, just see if NG isn't trying to twist it their way, and if so, why? Why did they pick a few of the wildest theories to spend so much time on, when the main 9-11 people admit they are a waste of time?

If you have studied JFK/Dallas, etc. you should be skeptical at the least. If you think JFK was killed with a 3rd rate rifle, by a guy not a marksman, at a moving car, that just happened to slow down [??], and his head goes backwards, the assassin just happens to be targeted by the police very quickly and shot before a trial, etc., then you have meekly accepted what those who dragged us into Vietnam wanted you to.

The very powerful may not run everything, but some of them sure exercise a veto occasionally.

[Pandaforum]

07:44 AM on 04/25/2010

truthers vote obama. that says it all.

[pj-smith]

10:49 AM on 04/25/2010

that is a ridiculous comment.

[cincinnati]

10:18 PM on 04/25/2010

actually 9-11 people are from the left and right, so you have no idea of what
you are talking about.

[Tresco]

12:04 AM on 04/25/2010

I'm a big fan of these amazing little birds. They complain when I let my feeders run dry. I hurry to clean and refill them and they wait impatiently while I bring the first feeder out and hang it. They buzzaround me like an electron cloud and while I put the feeder up I can feel their wing wash on my face and neck. Amazing critters.

[rr52]

10:29 PM on 04/24/2010

These are the friendliest little birds. We have hummingbirds around daily because I have flowers all around my house. I was sitting on my deck and one flew in to catch some nectar from the flowers right at my feet. In the process the hummingbird notice me and came up to my face level and hovered checking be out about 2 feet from my face. Of course I was thinking the usual, if only I had a video cam handy, or a cam attached to my forehead. I didn't move and it went back to gathering nectar.

If I sit on my deck in the evening at around 5:30, I can almost guarantee the little bird will pass by on its evening run around my house.

[ponderingmuch]

10:57 PM on 04/23/2010

Thank you for these pictures.

I love hummingbirds and am lucky enough to have a few that are regular visitors to the garden (and especially the bottle brush tree) behind my building.

Just yesterday one was comfortable enough to buzz past my head from about a foot away.

I sit and try to make that ticking sound they make (or at least the ones in West Hollywood do), but I have not mastered it. I think I got pleasantly buzzed for at least trying to speak their language.

[liquidzen11]

09:55 PM on 04/23/2010

Hummingbirds have long symbolized love, joy and happiness.
In ancient times stuffed hummingbirds were worn as lucky charms. Even today, dead hummingbirds are sold as amulets. In some cultures, there continues to exist the practice of drying the heart of a dead hummingbird and grinding it into a powder, which is then used in love potions.

[Gasparilla]

10:37 AM on 04/24/2010

You bring up a good point. So many of our threatened animals, tigers for instance, are being killed to make nonsense like "love potions".

[Gasparilla]

08:39 PM on 04/23/2010

My sister lives in the Florida panhandle. Lots of hummingbirds at her house. It's a beautiful sight. Although I think there is nothing cooler than an owl.

[Toolologist]

05:20 PM on 04/23/2010

Many, many years ago I found a baby hummingbird in the street on my way home from high school. I don't know if it was injured, stunned, or just didn't figure out the flying thing yet. I held it all the way home cupped in the palm of my hand, so tiny and fragile, I could feel it's little heart beating. I brought it to a neighbor down the street who had an aviary and kept birds, and asked her to please look after it.
What's that saying about good things that come in small packages? Beautiful, tiny creatures. Remember, no red dye!

[littlepuffycloud]

05:13 PM on 04/23/2010

I live in Tacoma area and we have Rufous and Anna's hummers year round..I put a lamp under my feeder to keep it from freezing on the porch and they stay all winter..I've found 2 in the torpor state on the sidewalk and bring 'em in, put them in a washcloth in a cardboard box and set it under a lamp for 20 min until I hear them fluttering and they're good to go. They don't use my feeders very much in the spring or summer because they go for my beebalm and coneflowers. They are also fiercely territorial and will fight others who try to feed..that's why several feeders are necessary. Long live Hummers!

[shutterbabe]

04:01 PM on 04/23/2010

Hummingbird shows us how to re-visit the past for the purpose of releasing it instead of being caught in a permanently backward flight pattern. It also helps us to see that if we step aside we may see our life differently. Hummingbird teaches us to transcend time, to recognize that what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future is not nearly as important as what we are experiencing now. It teaches us to hover in the moment, to appreciate its sweetness.

[shutterbabe]

04:03 PM on 04/23/2010

Oops! I apologize for posting this twice.

[nybirdcalls]

04:29 PM on 04/23/2010

Nice, *bee :)

[shutterbabe]

04:30 PM on 04/23/2010

NIce you :) Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

[shutterbabe]

03:59 PM on 04/23/2010

Hummingbird shows us how to re-visit the past for the purpose of releasing it instead of being caught in a permanently backward flight pattern. It also helps us to see that if we step aside we may see our life differently. Hummingbird teaches us to transcend time, to recognize that what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future is not nearly as important as what we are experiencing now. It teaches us to hover in the moment, to appreciate its sweetness.

-Constance Barrett Sohodski, Beyond the Rainbow-