At DBG Seedlings, the topic today was Hummingbirds and the plant they like the most- Chuparosa (which is spanish for hummingbird). The long flowers are tubular so that the hummingbird can get his beak in... past where the bees can go. Hummingbirds hearts are proportionately larger than those of any warm blooded animal and they have to eat every 10-15 minutes. They mostly drink nectar, but they one of their favorite foods is spiders! They eat the spider then take its web to contribute to their tiny little nest so that the eggs and hatchlings don't fall thru. Their wings beat 80 beats per second and their heart rate is 1300 beats per minute when they are active.
We took a long hike looking at the chuparosa-- which grew profusely in the backyard of our old house... as well as everywhere else in Arizona.
Then we made a little hummingbird craft out of clay, glitter, and feathers.
