Hummingbirds Burn 6 Times as Many Calories a Day as a Human and Can Fly 500 Miles Nonstop

A hummingbird may not seem like a powerful natural force to you, but in terms of strength and endurance, it can even put the best athletes in the world to shame. These birds are little machines when it comes to what they do throughout the day, despite the fact that they only weigh a few ounces. The daily calorie expenditure for a hummingbird ranges from 6,000 to 12,000 calories. The daily calorie expenditure of the typical male is about 2,000. An Olympian might expend 4,500 calories. You might say that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is almost half a hummingbird because he needs to eat over 5,000 calories a day to maintain his physique.

Why would a hummingbird need so many calories? Every year, the ruby-throated hummingbird must migrate, and it opts to cross the Gulf of Mexico to do so. The bird may cover 500 miles of ocean in one lengthy trip over open water, which lasts for almost a full day. The little fellows must put on weight before the flight because they will lose half of their body weight.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Trochilidae