Only the male ruby-throated hummingbird has a red chin. The feathers on the back, wings and most of the tails are actually brown or black. Some appear colorful because tiny structures on the surface of the feathers reflect only certain frequencies of light.
Photo credit: MrClean1982 from Flickr.com

Hummingbirds are strongly attracted to red flowers, and will sometime close in on people wearing red clothes.

Hummingbird feathers appear as very colorful shades of red, green, violet and blue. In fact, many feathers on the ruby-throated hummingbird are brownish or blackish in color. The color we see comes from tiny hollow structures on the surface of the feathers. These structures are precisely the right size to reflect some wavelengths of light but not others. This phenomenon is called iridescence.

The scintellant hummingbird, one of the smallest birds in the world, weighs a mere 0.08 oz, about as much as a penny. By comparison the largest bird, the ostrich, weights about 317 pounds—nearly 64,000 times that much!

Many people install hummingbird feeders in their back yards or garden and enjoy watching the birds come for a visit. Feeders can remain in operation into early November without upsetting hummingbird migration. In fact, in Minnesota garden feeders may attract western hummingbirds on their travels through the state.

Want to learn more about hummingbirds? Here are some sites you can visit:

• For basic information on the ruby-throated hummingbird, visit the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
• Hummingbirds.net has information on many species.
• How to identify a ruby-throated hummingbird
• The Hummingbird Project gets people all over North America—school children, amateur birdwatchers, anybody—involved in observing and collecting data on hummingbirds. Their site has lots of other interesting information as well.
• How to create a hummingbird habitat in your backyard
• And, just for fun, a hummingbird haiku

Photo credit: ktratboy from Flickr.com