Hummingbird Physiology

Hummingbird Physiology

(just for fun)

body mass: 3-4 g

heart size: 2.5% of body mass (vs. 0.5% humans)

heart rate: 250 to 1260

respiratory rate: 250 (resting)

pectoral muscles: 25% of body mass (vs. 5% humans)

wing beats: 70 to 200 per second

body temperature: 40 to 18 C (torpor)

GFR: 2.5 (evening) 0 (night)

Suarez, R. K. (1992). "Hummingbird flight: Sustaining the highest mass-specific metabolic rates among vertebrates".Experientia 48 (6): 565–70.

http://jeb.biologists.org/content/207/25/4383.figures-only