Hummingbird Adaptations Essays

Evolutionary adaptation has been widely recognized as shaping life forms into definite, distinguishable groups with significant traits. Some animals have evolved into odd ways, that they could be removed from their parent group. For instance, the vegetarian eagle is related to the Golden Eagle, however its distinctive feature is that it attacks palm trees instead of animals. This eagle has a special adapted digestive system, which separates itself from the rest of the eagles. You may be wondering how it can live without a typical meaty diet that all other eagles experience. This is because the bill of a vegetarian eagle opens nuts, and obtains the fats inside to compensate for a typical meaty diet. This bird is an excellent interpretation of

Imagine living in a civilization that practiced human sacrifice and ritual dances, and then one day that civilization no longer exists because another culture decided to conquer them. These people are known to modern society as the Aztecs. In Graciela Limon's novel, Song of the Hummingbird, she illustrated how a culture like the Aztecs or Mexica, can quickly diminish when there are people such as the Spanish that have very limited understanding about certain subjects. Some people may say that the Aztecs were slaughtered because the Darwinian principle of natural selection even applies to mankind. This concept was perceptible when the Spaniards marched with horses, advanced technology, and armor. But through this novel,

The “Hummingbird’s Daughter” by Luis Alberto Urrea proved to be a novel full of Mexican culture and identity, focusing on such intricate detail all the way through. One character in particular, Don Tomas Urrea who is the father of Teresita, plays a very important role throughout the book being a father, for Teresita, a friend for some, and a ‘patron’ for most. Although at the start of the book this man is not fairly distinguished, reading deeper into the novel the reader is slowly hooked to how humble and courageous Don Tomas can be. Being the head of the family a lot is expected of Don Tomas, he has to be fierce in front of his men, at the same time a good leader for his workers, and eventually up to the point of playing the role of a father to his unexpected daughter Teresita.

Have you ever wondered just how fast a Hummingbird's wing beats? Or how many times a Hummingbird’s heart beats per minute? Well, I am here to enlighten your bird loving souls. For those of you who don’t know, a Hummingbird’s wing can beat up to 200 times per second, and a Hummingbird’s heart while in flight can beat up to 1,250 times per minute. Special muscles in their “shoulder” areas allow for them to fly in all directions, up, down, left, right you name it. These are just the basic facts, now let’s get into the good stuff.

The book setting takes place in Mexico City in 1583 at a convent. Father Benito Lara was a Franciscan monk around 27 years old with a medium build, lean, clear tone, chestnut color hair thin to baldness identifying himself as the new confessor at the convent. The father was approached a private corner where an older woman Huitzitzilin 82 years old also known as Hummingbird frail with yellowish tone skin, small face, skeletal, dark marks, stringy white hair waiting to stated her last confession. Openly of her conversation with the father, Huitzitzilin describes her people splintered by the Spaniards, cast out, rooted out and beaten. The people had suffered from hunger and pestilence and felt like foreigners in their own rural area, these were powerful words coming from Huitzitziln. Zintle was the cousin of Huitzitziln and her first love during the Spanish Conquest of Mexico also the father to her unborn child. Huitzitzilin was different from others that was instructed about the aborigines of Mexico because the way she spoke about cultural repression of European religious, the struggle between gender oppression and duties of being a woman. Women are considered of less importance even in our world today, where we are supposed to have equality.

The Grants observed how the two ground finches preformed while attempting to obtain a seed called a Caltrop. Caltrops naturally have spikes around the seed as a defense against intruders. The Magnirostris did not have a hard time cracking open the Caltrop, with its hard, powerful jaw. However the Fortis would have to put more effort into cracking a single seed. The regular Fortis would try for six times and then give up, moving on to another seed. They will often move onto a different seed without trying. However the Fortis with a beak that is slightly deeper beak would attempt to crack the caltrop, and after a few tries, will succeed.

One of its most important characteristics is its beak. The finch adapted to have a thin, long beak to probe through moss, bark and leaves in search of food (Wildscreen Arkive, N.D.). These finches have the thinnest beak out of the 13 finches; which aids them to find small insects. The Green Warbler finch are mostly found in humid highland forest where their primary food source is found. These adaptations made them more fit to survive on available food. Over the years the finch’s beak has evolved as the bird developed different taste for insects. Another famous adaptation is how they camouflage in their environment. The Green Warbler is restricted to the forest and is greener in body colouration, while the Gray Warbler is found in shrubby, dry thickets and is greyer and duller looking (Certhidea olivacea, 2010). Their coloration helps them camouflage in their own environments, and to hide from predators. Recent studies have found that there are in fact two separate species of the Warbler Finch, the Green Warbler Finch and the Grey Warbler Finch, but are considered as a single species (Wildscreen Arkive, N.D.). The Green Warbler finch mainly occupies larger, inner islands, while the Grey Warbler finch inhabits the smaller, outer islands (Green Warbler Finch,

Evolution has increased the chances of continuity because they have learned to adapt to the changing environment and have learnt what is best for the survival of their species. They have also learnt what will help them with their reproduction, e.g. bright coloured petals and sweet scent to attract the bees etc. to help with pollination.

up to twice their weight each day, leaving very little for the Wedge-bill. This hummingbird is

Keeping a hummingbird feeder is a good idea, but there are other things you need to do to keep the little birds happy and humming in your garden. Hummingbirds, unlike most other animals, do not find their food source based on smell. Because of this, brightly colored plants and feeders are what attract the tiny creatures to your garden. Red is the best color to attract them. Keeping a clean, full feeder provides hummingbirds with the energy they need to keep flying around your garden and to other stops on their feeding route. The sugar water solution, however, is not their main food source. Hummingbirds actually get the nutrients and proteins they need for survival from soft-bodied spiders and tiny insects on the plants in your garden. Their outrageous metabolisms burn up calories so quickly, they need the sugar and flower nectars to keep them energized so they can hunt. The traditional sugar/water solution calls for one part sugar to four parts water. Do not boil the water to make syrup. Just mix it in room temperature water. Some gardeners have experimented with solutions that have a higher concentration of sugar to water. There is no research to show that high concentrated solutions of sugar harms the hummingbirds. Their metabolism operates so much differently than most animals. A higher concentration of solution just means they can drink less often to get the energy they need to hunt. It

Ruby throated hummingbirds have a lot of potentials in them. They have a lot of adaptations but don’t have much predators. Their only predators are humans and seasons. Winter and Fall because it gets too cold they will die. Humans might shoot them an accident.

Probosciger aterrimus, better known as the “palm cockatoo”, is the largest bird species of the parakeet (Psittaciformes) family (Taylor 2000). This highly threatened cockatoo species can be found dwelling in many tropical and woodland regions, including those of lowland New Guinea and the savanna habitat of Cape York Peninsula, Australia (Murphy et al. 2003), and can be identified by its long, plumaged body, curled erectile crest, and naked cheek patches. Of particular interest, and perhaps the most distinctive of this cockatoo’s traits, is the long, strong hooked beak. As with many bird species, the palm cockatoo’s bill has adapted to its specific dietary preferences and feeding strategies; in particular, the shock absorbing ability of the large, powerful bill allows the granivore-frugivore (grain or seed-eating – fruit-eating, respectively) (Koutsos et al. 2001) parakeet to scavenge for hard nuts that are otherwise inaccessible to other parakeet species. Further supporting the granivorous diet-accommodating beak morphology of the palm cockatoo is a study conducted by Munshi-South and Wilkinson (2006) that conclusively correlated the evolution of longer lifespans in parrots with the adoption of seed-based diets. If parrot species do in fact achieve longer lifespans by adopting granivorous diets, natural selection’s favoring of traits maximizing the adoption of a granivorous diet in the palm cockatoo should be relatively equally distributed amongst all members of the

Severely restricted inside the barren cages, the birds are unable to engage in nearly any of their natural habits, including nesting, perching, walking, dust bathing, foraging, or even spreading their wings” (HSUS, 2009).

When Noriko and Don Carroll moved from New York City to suburban Las Vegas, they found a tiny nest on a clothesline on their back porch. As the Carrolls settled into their new home, so did a female hummingbird they named Honey. For weeks, and years, the Carrolls watched in fascination as they witnessed an event few humans are privy to-the birth and growth of two hummingbirds.

There are almost as many ways of flying as there are kinds of birds. Albatrosses glide and soar with long narrow wings stretched out, sometimes staying aloft for hours without a single wing beat. Hummingbirds, on the other hand, can 't rest their wings for even a second in flight. Woodpeckers have a swooping flight, crows fly in a straight line, and swallows dart and weave every which way.