Yes they do, all animals have to sleep and hummingbirds aren’t any different.

There are many reasons why a hummingbird may stop flying, if they’re incubating an egg, getting injured whether it be their wings or eyesight, getting stunned by an object or another animal and when they’re sleeping by going into what is called a torpor state. 

How Often Do Hummingbirds Fly?

Hummingbirds are at an almost constant state of movement throughout their days which is why they require a ton of food just to stay alive. This is mostly down to an extreme metabolism which almost makes it necessary for these tiny birds to fly from one food source to the next, hunting this and that insect to stay topped up.

Even when feeding, hummers don’t straddle on a branch to consume food but, hover above it poking their beaks into the flower nectar or feeder. It’s only after dusk when hummingbirds will look for a place to rest and comfortably go into a hibernation state before getting up at dawn to continue on this endless journey to feed.

Therefore, hummers are in essence flying at all times, from dawn to dusk, making them very active birds but not non-stop fliers as some seem to believe.

When Would A Hummingbird Fly Nonstop?

Hummingbirds move pretty much every minute until dusk so flying extended distances for a long period is very much part of their nature. In fact during winter migration, which happens twice every year for most hummingbird species, these small feathered buzzers can travel upwards of 500 – 600 miles in a single day.

This would generally be covered in 18 – 22 hours of non-stop flying, meaning hummers travel between 25 – 30 miles or so every hour.

However, research within The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows that the ruby-throated hummingbird can in fact travel upwards of 1370 miles without stopping when journeying from the East Coast of the United states into central America.

When this is put into perspective, the UK’s length from top to bottom, from Scotland’s Dunnet Head, which is the northeastern most part of the UK up until Lozard Point which is the southernmost point only makes up 600 miles.

The average migrater tends to cover that twice a year whilst the most ambitious of journey makers cover more than double!

That’s honestly quite bonkers if you ask me.

Males are on average stronger fliers therefore, they can fly a few more miles than the females nevertheless, the ball park distance that both genders make when flying non-stop isn’t too different from each other.

When Would A Hummingbird Stop Flying?

Hummingbirds stop flying for a number of reasons with the most obvious being to sleep. Hummingbirds are also injury prone because they have an extremely small frame with not the densest of bones or muscles.

Therefore, they occasionally might run into a wall, another animal, among other solid objects, either resulting in an injury forcing them to stop flying or the impact stunning them making it difficult to continue their flight.

A Hummer that’s sick will also stop flying as it won’t have the energy to fly. Hummingbirds tend to get sick from moldy feeders so, if you’d rather have a bunch of active hummer’s and not flightless ones, you’d best keep the feeders clean.

Other reasons a hummingbird will stop flying also includes when they’re mating and when a female hummingbird is incubating their eggs.

Would A Hummingbird Die If It Couldn’t Fly?

If a hummer was unable to fly, it then wouldn’t be capable of finding food and ultimately would not make it very far in life. Of course if us humans were to intervene in an attempt to maybe fix a broken wing or just continued to feed these mini birds, in theory they could make it out alive without the ability to fly.

However, being tiny and not having access to arguably it’s most powerful asset, larger carnivorous birds, rats, cats, even insects like spiders and dragonflies would have their way, with natural selection more than likely running its course.

There’s also this very funny myth asking if hummingbirds genuinely die when they stop flying.

This obviously doesn’t make much sense at all considering all animals need to sleep at some point, especially hummingbirds who require a ton of energy and food sources to remain afloat.

Sleeping helps hummingbirds cut down on theie infinite need to feed as a result of an immense metabolism.

Summary

Even if hummingbirds look like they are always flying, when eating, simply hovering in place and arguably lounging around, just like all animals their need to sleep trumps needing to always fly about no matter the occasion.

• injury’s
• bumping into solid objects
• incubating eggs
• mating
• sleeping

Among other activities will stop a hummer flying which is just how it is for birds and animals notwithstanding these mini hovering birds day to day lifestyle.

References

What Happens When Hummingbirds Stop Flying? (Answered!)

https://animals.howstuffworks.com/birds/guess-how-far-a-hummingbird-can-fly-stopping-nope-its-farther.htm

https://www.google.com/amp/s/time.com/4252432/hummingbird-migration-pattern/?amp=true

https://www.birdwatchingusa.org/do-hummingbirds-stop-flying