# How many hummingbirds for a meal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562 "2015-05-22T02:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/1 "2015-05-22T02:53:41Z")
Sitting here, looking out on my back porch, I see the doves eating what drops from the bird feeders, and at the hummingbirds at the hummingbird feeder, and I begin wondering. Now, doves are not that big, it takes about three or four of them per person to make a meal. Generally, only the breast meat is worth separating from the dove for eating. Say, for the sake of argument, I wanted to host a dinner for four, for a feast of hummingbird. How many would I need? Figuring a quarter pound per person, that would mean a pound of meat. Feathers, bones, entrails, and beak don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/2 "2015-05-22T03:16:51Z")
Googling suggests that hummingbirds have a typical mass of around 4 grams, a relatively high proportion of which (around 30%) is muscle. So we can estimate the edible muscle is around 20% of the mass - say 800mg. You’d need 567 such birds to yield a pound of meat. (The true delicacy is of course hummingbird tongues.) ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/3 "2015-05-22T03:25:53Z")
A hummingbird is on the order of ~5g and a dove is on the order of ~100g, so you’re looking at a factor of around 20X if all else is equal (which it probably isn’t). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/4 "2015-05-22T03:59:15Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > Now, doves are not that big, it takes about three or four of them per person to make a meal. Generally, only the breast meat is worth separating from the dove for eating. If only the breast of dove (and not the wings, legs, fleegle, etc.) is worth harvesting, then what parts of a hummingbird are worth harvesting? Your basic eating utensil would be a pair of tweezers. Your best bet would be to clone some hummingbird breast tissue and grow it in petri dishes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/5 "2015-05-22T04:10:50Z")
Probably work better if you eat them like crawdads. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/6 "2015-05-22T04:15:17Z")
You might want to use [Giant Hummingbirds](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3651/3658707344_f93866b55a_z.jpg), which weigh up to 24 g and thus yielding about 5 g of meat. You would only need about 90 of them to yield a pound. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/7 "2015-05-22T05:51:44Z")
Assuming 1/3 pound of meat, and an animal 20% meat: [About 440](http://www.beautyofbirds.com/smallestbirdinexistence.html) [Or 22](http://http://blogs.bu.edu/bioaerial2012/files/2012/12/giant-hummingbird.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![gumpy3885](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@gumpy3885](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gumpy3885)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/8 "2015-05-22T15:51:58Z")
No one’s heard of ortolans: [cookingwithlittlebuddy.com](http://cookingwithlittlebuddy.com/ortolans-anthony-bourdain-and-larousse-gastronomique/) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/9 "2015-05-22T16:55:31Z")
To me it is unthinkable to eat those cute tiny birds. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-hummingbirds-for-a-meal/720562/10 "2015-05-22T17:22:51Z")
About the same number as chickens to make a hearty bowl of Chicken Knee Soup.