humming bird

1 definition found

humming bird - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  hummingbird \hummingbird\, humming bird \humming bird\n.
     (Zool.),
     any bird of the family Trochilid[ae], of which over one
     hundred genera are known, including about four hundred
     species. They are found only in America and are most abundant
     in the tropics. They are mostly of very small size with long
     slender bills adapted to sucking nectar from flowers, and are
     noted for the very brilliant iridescent colors of their
     plumage and their peculiar habit of hovering about flowers
     while vibrating their wings very rapidly with a humming
     noise; the wings are specialized for hovering flight, but
     they can also dart forward and fly quite rapidly. They feed
     both upon the nectar of flowers and upon small insects. The
     common humming bird or ruby-throat of the Eastern United
     States is Trochilus colubris. Several other species are
     found in the Western United States. See Calliope, and
     Ruby-throat.
     [1913 Webster]