This is why, even in the best of times, this fearless opportunist is a slave to its raging metabolism. A typical hummingbird needs 7 to 12 calories a day. It gets most of them by sipping nectar from flowers. To keep itself alive, a hummingbird must manage to find as many as 1,000 flowers and drink almost twice its weight in nectar daily. It's enough to give even a very pretty little bird the personality of a junkyard dog.
Individual survival seems only concern.
To purchase a copy of the September 2000 issue, click here . Abstract of an article by Richard Conniff, originally published in the September 2000 issue of Smithsonian . All rights reserved. All rights reserved.