- What is torpor? It is a state similar to hibernation. It is a type of deep sleep where an animal lowers its hart and metabolic rate. Hummingbirds must enter this state to ensure that the birds won’t actually starve to death before down
During a state of torpor, a hummingbird will lower its body temperature between 20-50 degrees. This enables the bird to conserve energy on cold nights or anytime that food might be scarce.
While in a state of torpor, hummingbirds can even lower their heart rate from 500 beats per minute to as few as 50 beats per minute.
Also as part of their efforts to conserve energy, the hummingbird may even stop breathing for periods of time.