A nightly shutdown
To survive freezing nights it lets its body cool right down and its heart slow, and warms up again at dawn.
The Andes
Ecuadorian hillstar
Oreotrochilus chimborazo
A small hummingbird of the cold heights, olive-green above and white below. The male has a shining violet-blue hood.
- Size
- About 13cm long
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- High slopes of the Andes in Ecuador, up to 5,000 metres
Hovers beside you, wings a blur. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Hummingbird
Good to know
Six things about the hummingbird
It sits to feed
Most hummingbirds hover to feed. In thin, cold air the hillstar often clings to the flower to save energy.
A blur of wings
Hummingbirds beat their wings dozens of times a second, and can fly backwards.
A warm nest
It builds a thick nest of moss and wool on a cliff face or in a cave, out of the wind.
Sugar and flies
It drinks nectar for energy, and catches tiny insects for the protein to grow.
An American family
Hummingbirds live only in the Americas. There are more than 350 kinds.
The real thing
Photos of the hummingbird
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look for orange chuquiragua flowers on high slopes: the hillstar is rarely far from them.
How to help
Hummingbirds follow the flowers. Protecting high mountain shrubland from burning and over-grazing protects them too.
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