Swallow-tailed Hummingbird: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Parrots and Colourful Birds · day 7 of 7

Five facts

1. This hummingbird is 15 to 17 cm long, and nearly half of that is its forked tail. It weighs no more than 9 g.
2. One female was seen attacking a Swainson's hawk in mid-air, a bird more than a hundred times her weight.
3. A mother in São Paulo chased away doves trying to nest nearby. Doves can attract predators, so this may have kept her nest safer.
4. Its tiny cup nest is covered in lichen and moss and held together with spider silk. Inside, the female lays two white eggs.
5. To court, the male hovers in front of the female and chases her through the air. The two may fly a zig-zag path together.

The quiz

1. How much of this hummingbird's length is tail?

• About a tenth
• Nearly half (correct)
• Almost none
• About a quarter

Nearly half of its 15 to 17 cm length is made up by the tail.

2. How heavy was the Swainson's hawk a female attacked, compared with her?

• About the same
• Twice as heavy
• Five times as heavy
• More than a hundred times as heavy (correct)

The hawk was over a hundred times heavier than the hummingbird.

3. Which birds did a São Paulo mother chase away from near her nest?

• Doves (correct)
• Owls
• Parrots
• Crows

She drove off ruddy ground doves trying to nest nearby.

4. What holds the swallow-tailed hummingbird's nest together?

• Mud
• Tree sap
• Spider webs (correct)
• Its own saliva

The cup nest, covered in lichen and moss, is held together with spider webs.

5. What does a courting male do?

• Builds a bower of sticks
• Hovers in front of the female and chases her (correct)
• Brings her a gift of berries
• Drums on a hollow branch

He hovers before the female and chases her, sometimes in a zig-zag flight.

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