"...The ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) breeds in eastern North America, where it is found from Nova Scotia to Florida....hummingbirds have compact, strongly muscled bodies and rather long, bladelike wings that, unlike the wings of other birds, articulate (connect) to the body only from the shoulder joint. The architecture of the wing permits hummingbirds to fly not only forward but also straight up and down, sideways, and backward and to hover in front of flowers as they obtain nectar and insects from them." (Image and text from Encyclopedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/276271/hummingbird#ref194490)
