A ruby-throated hummingbird

The ruby-throated hummingbird is Southeast Missouri's only hummingbird. This small bird is a great pollinator of many flowering plants, especially those plants that have throated flowers. Trumpet creeper and jewelweed are two favorites of ruby-throated hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds have very short legs. So short, in fact, that they can't walk. But their legs are useful and necessary for sitting on small limbs to give their wings a rest. Ruby-throated hummingbirds will eat small insects such as gnats, and when it is sitting on a limb the hummer also may be hunting. You may see it dart from the limb and catch an insect in midair.

Life expectancy of a ruby-throated hummingbird is about five years if it survives its first migration cycle. During autumn the birds fly south to winter in Cuba or Central America; in spring, they fly back.

The female ruby-throated hummingbird's tail feathers are tipped in white. The male's tail tips are black. The male has a red throat; the female's throat is white.

How fast can you flap your arms? A hummer may flap its wings more than 50 times a second. How much food do you eat in one day? A hummer may eat twice its body weight in one day. Woodpeckers are known to have very long tongues, and as my photo attests, so do hummingbirds. A ruby-throated hummingbird's tongue is a bit longer than its bill.

Through the Woods is a weekly nature photo column by Aaron Horrell. Find this column at semissourian.com to order a reprint of the photo. Find more work by Aaron at The Painted Wren Gallery