Hummingbirds can’t walk. That may sound surprising when you consider the mobility of these tiny buzz birds. With jet-like speed they can fly forward and backward, shoot directly up or dive rapidly and even hover in one place. But they can’t walk. I’m almost embarrassed to say it has taken me this long to recognize that. I guess we just assume that any of nature’s creatures with legs and feet are able to walk. It was a new camera that helped me make this fascinating discovery.
Something had to give, so the compromise was small feet to allow them to perch, build nests, scoot sideways and care for their feathers, but no muscles to allow them to walk or hop. The design has served them well. Some species of hummingbirds migrate long distances without stopping, including the ruby-throated hummers that cross the Gulf of Mexico nonstop, a distance of over 500 miles.