🦅 Bald eagle vs Ruby-throated hummingbird 🐦
The bald eagle is about 10 times as long as the ruby-throated hummingbird. The ruby-throated hummingbird is about one and a half times as fast as the bald eagle. The bald eagle weighs about 1,500 times as much as the ruby-throated hummingbird.
| Row | 🦅 Bald eagle | 🐦 Ruby-throated hummingbird |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed The ruby-throated hummingbird is about one and a half times as fast as the bald eagle. | 35 to 40 mph56 to 64 km/h1 | 60 mph97 km/h2 |
| Weight The bald eagle weighs about 1,500 times as much as the ruby-throated hummingbird. | 7 to 14 lb3.2 to 6.4 kg3 | 0.11 to 0.12 oz3 to 3.5 g4 |
| Lives The bald eagle usually lives about 3 times as long as the ruby-throated hummingbird. | 20 years20 years5 | 5 to 9 years5 to 9 years6 |
| Eats The bald eagle eats fish; the ruby-throated hummingbird eats plants and animals. | mostly fish, plus ducks and dead animals | nectar from flowers, and tiny insects |
| Lives in They can live in the same kind of place. | near lakes, rivers and coasts across North America | eastern North America in summer; Mexico and Central America in winter |
Which one? Bald eagle or ruby-throated hummingbird
🏁 Who would win the race?
The ruby-throated hummingbird gets to the tree first. Over a short dash it is about one and a half times as fast as the bald eagle. It isn't quite fair: the bald eagle is flying and the ruby-throated hummingbird is diving through the air.
We only race. Real animals mostly avoid each other. A race is the only fair contest: who reaches the tree first, by top speed.
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The link carries only the two animals’ names: peabody.kids/animals/compare/bald-eagle-vs-hummingbird
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Upper Delaware, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Northeast Temperate Network, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Kenai Fjords, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service (North American bald eagle), checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.