Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson XXVIII · Topic 2: Bird study: birds to know
28. The hummingbird
Goal: Your child can describe how a hummingbird hovers and feeds at flowers, tell the male from the female, and tell a hummingbird from a hawk-moth.
You'll need
- A garden or park with tubular flowers (bee balm, salvia, trumpet vine, jewelweed) or a hummingbird feeder
- Binoculars (optional)
- Nature notebook
What's in the book
The leading thought, the method (give the questions and let the pupils watch when they can) and five questions about where it feeds, telling it from a hawk-moth, how it rests, its colors, how it feeds and catches insects, and its tiny nest.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Late spring through early fall. In the East, the ruby-throated hummingbird; in the West, several kinds. Watch red and orange tubular flowers or a feeder. Hawk-moths (sphinx moths) visit the same flowers at dusk and look like tiny hummingbirds.
Keep the big idea in mind
Read this to yourself:
The hummingbird in flight moves its wings so rapidly that we cannot see them. It can hold itself poised above flowers while it thrusts its long beak into them for nectar and insects.
Where is it?
Where do you find the hummingbird? What flowers was it visiting? At what time of day?
Can you tell whether it is a hummingbird or a hawk-moth which is visiting the flowers? At what time of day do the hawk-moths appear?
Watch it feed
How does the hummingbird act when extracting the nectar? How does it balance itself in front of a flower?
Have you ever seen hummingbirds catch insects in the air?
At rest
Does the hummingbird ever come to rest? Describe its actions while resting.
Watch the nearest bare twig; males often perch there to guard the flowers.
Male and female
What are the colors of the back, throat, breast and under parts? How do you distinguish the mother hummingbird from her mate?
The male ruby-throat has a throat that flashes red in the sun; the female's throat is white.
Put it into words
Ask your child to show with their hands how a hummingbird feeds. Then share the leading thought.
Nature notebook
Draw a hummingbird hovering at a flower, with its wings as a blur. If you saw a hawk-moth, draw it beside the bird.
Afterwards
If you hang a feeder, use 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water, no red dye, and change it every few days in hot weather.
Tip
Comstock's last question asks about the nest, which is about the size of a walnut shell and very hard to find. If you see one, watch from a distance only.