I'm Coyote Peterson.
Today we're at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum,
and I'm standing right outside of the hummingbird aviary.
Let's head inside and see if we can get the cameras up close
to some of these speedy little birds.
(dramatic jungle music)
The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, located in the heart
of Tucson Saguaro National Park, is world-renowned
for its collection of amazing animals.
Considered a living museum,
the conservation work they do helps
to protect and preserve a number of native desert species.
From Mexican wolves to big horn sheep,
their species survival programs have helped sustain,
and reintroduce populations of threatening animals
to the wild, where they once had vanished.
However, not all of the animals
that call the desert museum home
are as large as wolves and sheep.
And today we are getting, or should I say,
we'll be trying to get, up close
with the smallest birds in the Southwest.
So excited.
I absolutely love hummingbirds.
All right, let's head into the aviary.
Gotta move quick.
We gotta go through a set of double doors.
In you go.
Go, go, go. Get that door closed.
And into the aviary we go.
This is also where we met up with Shawnee Peterson,
an expert in the world of hummingbirds.
She spends nearly every morning walking the aviary
to monitor this flourishing population.
Okay now here in the aviary, how many species do we have?
- We have four.
- Okay.
- [Shawnee] Costa's, Anna's,
broad-tailed, and broad-billed.
- [Coyote] Awesome so we have a chance
to see all four of these today.
- I'm hopeful.
- There's one flying right behind you right there.
- Is it right behind me?
- It's right behind you.
What kind is that?
- [Shawnee] Wow, little female Anna's.
- Ah, cool, so the females are a little bit duller
in coloration than the males.
The males usually have a brighter throat, right?
- Right! Really, really bright gorget area,
that would be the throat area.
- Hummingbirds are tiny masters of the sky.
And before we began searching, Shawnee wanted
to give us a quick lesson, so that we will have
an appreciation for their amazing abilities.
Okay so let's talk about wing speed.
If there's one incredible trait that the hummingbird
has, it's the fact that its wings can go so fast.
Now how many strokes can
that hummingbird do this a minute?
- Almost 4,800.
- Wow 4,800 strokes in a minute.
Can you imagine it?
I mean I'm sure if I sat here and did this,
it would take me half--
- [Shawnee] I don't think you have (chuckles)
- Half a day and I'm not gonna lift off the ground.
And these hummingbirds, I mean I'm watching them.
Look at this.
They're just flying back and forth.
Hovering, zhoo, zhoo, zhoo.
And they can move forward, backwards, up, and down.
That's crazy.
- [Shawnee] That's great, yeah.
- Now your heart rate must be going pretty quick
if you're flying that fast.
How fast are their heart rates?
- Over 1,200 beats per minute.
- This is one impressive little animal, that is for sure.
All of that power pact into, these guys are tiny.
They're like that.
- Yeah, about three grams,
so that's about the weight of a penny.
- Wow, so you're telling me that a bird this size,
I mean he is tiny, but he only weighs as much as a penny?
- [Shawnee] Yeah.
- That is impressive.
Walk quietly, keep alert,
and with just a little patience, you will soon begin
to see hummingbirds, darting left and right.
(playful music)
I certainly wasn't allowed to capture any of these birds.
So for me, this experience was all
about having a close encounter of the hummingbird kind.
(hummingbird chirps)
- One thing I think that we did that was really smart
is we make this aviary pretty low.
So if the birds do, the nest very close to people.
And people get to enjoy them, pretty close
instead of the birds being up very high.
- And the temperature in here is significantly lower
than it is outside of the aviary.
And I noticed you have a lot
of shade netting and a mesh top.
Does that help to keep the temperature down?
- [Shawnee] It does. It's really nice in here summer time.
- I see that there are spider webs
all over the place in here.
Now is that something that hummingbirds like?
Are they eating spiders?
- No, but that is the glue that keeps the nest together.
- [Coyote] Oh really?
- And when we opened this exhibit, our nests
were sort of falling apart,
and we were like, "What are we missing?"
And it was because we'd had
to pretty start from ground zero.
We were missing spiders so we brought in labyrinth spiders
and they started spinning their webs,
and immediately during breeding season,
the females would come in and start stealing
all that and weave them into their nest.
- I can feel that that
that webbing is very strong,
and like you said, "stretchy," so as the chicks are growing,
then the nest actually expands with the baby birds.
- Exactly.
- That is really, really cool.
Symbiotic relationship between a bird and a spider.
Never heard of that one before.
And Shawnee what I love so much about this aviary,
is that it feels like we're out there in the wild.
Now you do have the inclosure over top,
but you barely notice it,
and you can get so incredibly close to these hummingbirds.
- I know, it's a terrific experience.
- Oh, geeze!
Look at how close this one is right here!
- [Shawnee] Absolutely!
- Look at that!
Look at how comfortable he is getting that close to us.
Wow.
Is that normal for them to just come this close?
I mean we've been standing still for a minute.
- Well they know that
they're getting their lunch from us, so
- [Coyote] So he might think
(background music) has my lunch.
- [Shawnee] Indeed.
- Oh, there he goes.
Wow, how cool was that?
I mean we were literally inches from that hummingbird.
That's really an experience I'm never gonna forget.
Shawnee, thank you so much for having us out here today
to the hummingbird aviary (cheerful, playful music)
Yes, oh my gosh, the next time you guys are in the Southwest
make sure you come and visit
the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.
So many amazing animals to get up close with.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave. Stay wild.
We'll see ya on the next adventure.
If you are ever on the Southwest, make sure to visit
the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum,
so you can get up close with hummingbirds.
If you want to see more of their amazing animals,
make sure to check out the first episode we filmed
at this incredible living museum.
And don't forget: subscribe to join me and the crew
on this season of "Breaking Trail."