Hummingbird, green on bright green

8 x 10 inches
oil on wood
2020

Do hummingbirds sleep during the day? “Hummingbirds find a nice and sheltered place at night, and they latch onto a branch with their tiny feet, and then they go to sleep. Some of them ... use a strategy called torpor, where they can lower the amount of energy they use by about 85 percent. They do this by basically shutting down a bunch of their bodily functions—they allow their body to get cold as the night gets colder. Humans spend a lot of energy keeping our bodies warm so everything functions normally.”

#mentalfloss #hummingbird Hummingbirds in torpor give up this "normal" function, and become more like lizards, in that they can get ‘cold-blooded’ in torpor. Because of their high metabolism while in flight they are just hours from starving at any time. They can only store enough energy to get through the night. However, during the day a hummingbird will rest when not in flight and guard its territory. During these time you can see them shut their eyes and nap.

#hummingbirdart #hummingbirdpainting #oilonwood #yellow #sleepingbeauty