Hummingbirds and Swifts belong to the bird order "apodiformes", which means "no feet". Do swifts and hummingbirds have feet? Of course they do - if they didn't, they'd fall out of the tree! Scientists gave them this name because their legs are very short and their feet are very small. When you see a hummingbird flying by, it is very hard to tell whether it has feet or not until it is hovering or lands at a feeder.

The only obvious things that hummingbirds and swifts have in common other than their tiny tootsies (outside of the fact that they are birds) is the fact that they migrate and eat insects as part of their diet. Hummingbirds eat mostly nectar, which swifts do not. They eat mostly insects. But both hummingbirds and swifts are gifted flyers.

Hummingbirds are ONLY found in the Western Hemisphere. They inhabit North, South and Central America and Caribbean Islands. There are at least 319 species of hummingbird. The Cuban Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world, with a body that's the size of a large bee. The largest hummingbird is the size of a purple martin, and it's called the Giant Hummingbird.

There are two swift families. One is just called "Swift Family" and is found all over the world. The other is the Crested Swift family, found only in southeast Asia and the western Pacific from India to the Solomon Islands. Swifts are very fast-flying insect eaters and are though of as the most "aerial" of all land birds.

Big or small, the 'footless wonders' known as apodiformes are fascinating. If you want to find out more, step into their shoes and visit the world of hummingbirds and swifts.

	I guard and protect "my" patch of flowers. I may eat 50 to 60 meals there in a single day.
	Because of my bright and shiny colors, people in some parts of the world give me names like: shining sunbeam, red-tailed comet, white-bellied woodstar, and purple-crowned fairy.
	I have two legs, hollow bones, and I'm warm-blooded.
	My food is mainly nectar sipped from flowers, but I eat insects, too. I do not gather pollen.
	I can fly up, down, sideways, forward, backward, and hover.
	I have a long beak and tiny feet.
	My wings move so fast they hum.

Can you guess who I am?

Hold your mouse over the button to see the answer.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird