Is the small hummingbird a protected animal? Its distribution, food and natural enemies

Hummingbirds, named for the humming sound made by the vibration of their two wings in flight, which closely resembles that of bees, are small in size, with bodies covered in scaly feathers and bright colors.So is this beautiful little bird a protected animal? Where is it distributed? What does it eat? Does it have natural enemies?

1. Are hummingbirds protected animals?

Hummingbirds are protected animals. All species in the family Trochilidae are included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; they are Class II nationally protected animals in China, and trading in them is not allowed.

2. Where are they distributed?

Hummingbirds are found only in the Americas, in the Nearctic and Neotropical realms, with most living in tropical and subtropical regions from 10°N to 25°S. More than half inhabit the tropical rainforests of Brazil and Ecuador. Their range extends from Alaska and Labrador in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south, including Barbados and the Juan · Fernández Islands.

3. What food do hummingbirds eat?

About 90% of a hummingbird's food comes from nectar, with the rest being arthropods, including flies, wasps, spiders, beetles and ants. The hummingbird's thin, long beak is well suited to drawing nectar, and it usually pollinates flowers that are brightly colored, odorless and have long tubular corollas; the shape of the beak determines which flower species they can feed from. Because of their high basal metabolic rate, hummingbirds can drink nectar equivalent to their body mass within a single day, obtain amino acids from pollen and insect protein, and when nectar resources are scarce they also drink sap left in holes drilled by sapsuckers. Species that coexist with hummingbirds usually specialize in certain flowers and share habitats; some hummingbirds defend the nectar within their territory, while others move through dense blooms of flowers in orderly foraging.

4. Do hummingbirds have natural enemies?

Adult hummingbirds have few natural enemies. Known natural enemies include: snakes, forest falcons and pygmy owls. Nest predators such as blue jays, toucans and certain bats are the greatest threat to the survival of hummingbirds. Females have more cryptic coloration than males, which may help with camouflage and prevent attracting predators while they are brooding; females fly to the nest in a zigzag or semicircular pattern to avoid leading predators directly to it, and if a natural enemy attacks, hummingbirds will also swarm together to mob it.