Post Messenger Recorder -

Hummingbirds are to be marveled.  So small and yet so energetic. Their tenacity would have made their name befitting a product, say a battery or fire detector.  But a fish locator company got to it first.

Here we mostly see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds; first the males return in late spring, followed by the females, who lack those fiery throat feathers.  Come autumn, the males fatigue of Wisconsin before the females and are on their way south while the females are still closing up shop, collecting that last drop of feeder sugar water, flower nectar, or tree sap pooling in a woodpecker bark drilling. 

Most animals, when they stand still, use fewer calories.  Not hummers, who beat their wings 55 times a second just to remain somewhat stationary.  Even more beats are needed to move backward and still more to go forward to the next red flower. 

When there is no red, hues close to red will do; orange, pink, purple and yellow flowers attract, too.  Still, most feeders are red.

One might wonder what would happen if electric fence insulators were red.  Would they attract Hummingbirds?  A manufacturer, Red Snapper, now makes white and yellow plastic insulators.