Hummingbird family Trochilidae Forest preserve hotspots hotspots •
Captain Daniel Wright Woods (Mettawa)
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Des Plaines River Trail
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Ryerson Conservation Area (Riverwoods) Ruby-throated hummingbird Archilochus colubris
Woodland
Extra Small
Species Showcase
Ruby-throated hummingbird Beating their wings up to 53 times a second, ruby-throated hummingbirds zigzag from flower to flower, sipping nectar. The sugary liquid fuels their metabolism, one of the fastest in the whole animal kingdom. Surprisingly, insects and spiders are also on the menu. Hummingbirds weigh just 0.1–0.2 ounces, yet consume 2–3 times their body weight daily—about 3–7 calories. That may not seem like much, but in human terms, that’s equivalent to eating 155,000 calories a day. Attract these speedsters to your home by planting native blooms and filling up flowerlike feeders with sugar water. Hummingbirds prefer red or orange tube-shaped flowers.
Rails, Coots & Gallinules family Rallidae
Wetland
Medium | Large
Forest preserve hotspots hotspots •
Pine Dunes (Antioch)
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Rollins Savanna (Grayslake)
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Spring Bluff (Winthrop Harbor) American coot
Fulica americana
Common gallinule Gallinula galeata
King rail
Rallus elegans
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Sora
Porzana carolina
Virginia rail 10
Rallus limicola
American coot