The Hummingbird. Someone has called it, “Creation’s superhero,” I call it, “God’s little hero.”

It is an absolutely amazing creature, judge for yourself.

Hummingbirds are native species of the New World and are not found outside of the Western Hemisphere except in a few zoos or aviaries. There are no hummingbirds found in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia or Antarctica. There are more than 325 unique species in the world.

Hummingbirds cannot walk or hop, though their feet can be used to scoot sideways while they are perched. Roughly 25-30 percent of a hummingbird’s weight is in its pectoral muscles. These are the broad chest muscles principally responsible for the flight. A hummingbird’s maximum forward flight speed is 30 miles per hour. These birds can reach up to 60 miles per hour in a dive. A hummingbird’s wings beat between 50 and 200 flaps per second depending on the direction of the flight, the purpose of their flight and the surrounding air conditions. They can fly forward, backward, upward and downward. Amazing little helicopters. Millions of dollars have been unsuccessfully invested in biomimetic engineering attempts to duplicate this complex system of biomechanical wonders. However, evolutionists believe that random mutations, natural selection, and millions of years can do better than brilliant engineers. It makes more sense to explain the brilliant hummingbird design as created by a brilliant divine Designer.

An average hummingbird’s heart rate is more than 1,200 beats per minute. In comparison, a human’s average heart rate is only 60-100 beats per minute at rest. At rest, a hummingbird takes an average of 250 breaths per minute. Their breathing pace will increase when they are in flight. To support such ‘breathtaking’ metabolism, this marvel must eat almost constantly to get the energy needed. Every day, it extracts nectar from up to 2,000 flowers. In addition to nectar, these birds also eat many small insects and spiders, and may also sip tree sap or juice from broken fruits. Hummingbirds do not suck nectar through their long bills, they lick it with fringed, forked tongues. Capillary action along the fringe of their tongue helps draw nectar up into their throats so they can swallow. It can lick 10-15 times per second while feeding. It digests natural sucrose – the sugar found in floral nectar – in 20 minutes with 97 percent efficiency for converting the sugar into energy.

The Rufous Hummingbird has the longest migration of any hummingbird species. These hummers fly more than 3,000 miles from their nesting grounds in Alaska and Canada to their winter habitat in Mexico. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird flies 500 miles nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico during both its spring and fall migrations.

This little bird is absolutely amazing and evidence of our great God, the Creator.