To keep itself alive a hummingbird must daily drink almost its weight in nectar. That's equivalent to a 180 lb. To meet its daily energy needs, a hummingbird must find 1,000 nectar bearing flowers. It competes with butterflies, bees, other pollinating insects, and other hummingbirds for them. It's enough to give these very pretty birds the personality of a junkyard dog.
Hummingbirds travel north as far as Alaska from their winter home in Mexico.
During their journey, the males establish territories, defend it from rivals, and put on courtship displays for passing females. A male Broadtail hummingbird was observed flying more than 40 sorties per hour to drive off rivals. Another 45 times an hour he shot 60 feet straight up in the air and back down in a courtship power dive. All this activity, coupled with their high metabolism makes them fearlessly opportunistic to investigate any potential food source. Hummingbird tongues are incredibly long and specialized.