Common archilochus

Most of the year is spent in southern Canada (from central Alberta east to Nova Scotia ) and the central and eastern USA (from North Dakota east to Maine , and in the southern USA from southern Texas to Florida ), winter in Central America - from central Mexico to the west of Panama , but also to the south of Florida in the United States ^[1] .

Common hummingbirds live in rural gardens, urban areas, temperate forests, as well as in tropical and subtropical arid forests, as well as in mountainous and low-lying moist forests and shrubs; found at an altitude of up to 1900 meters above sea level ^[5] .

The body length of the birds is 7-10 cm ^{[6] [7]} ; wingspan - 8-11 cm; the mass of birds is from 2 to 6 grams ^[8] . The hummingbird has rather short wings , which when folded do not reach the tail . The plumage of the back and head is emerald or golden green, the abdomen is gray-white. The feathers of the neck in males are brilliant red in contrast to females, due to this species the names “ruby-throated” and “red-throated” are given ^[8] .

Very short legs prevent birds from walking and jumping. The only thing they can do is roam. However, birds can scratch their head and neck with claws of their legs, lifting their legs up above the wings ^[8] .

This hummingbird makes ~ 53 wings flap per second ^[8] , when collecting nectar from plant flowers. The famous oldest ordinary archilochus was at the age of 9 years 1 month ^[8] .

The common archilochus feeds on the nectar of red and orange tubular flowers, such as the rooting campsis , Lobelia cardinalis , Aesculus pavia , Ipomoea coccinea , honeysuckle , monarda and balsam . Also, birds are not averse to feasting on insects , which they catch in the air, or spiders , which they tear from the web; feed on mosquitoes , midges , fruit flies and small bees . Sometimes ordinary archilochus collect insects that are attracted to plant juices, or peck caterpillars and aphids ^[8] .