🐋 Blue whale vs Ruby-throated hummingbird 🐦
The blue whale is about 400 times as long as the ruby-throated hummingbird. The ruby-throated hummingbird is about 3 times as fast as the blue whale. The blue whale weighs about 46,000,000 times as much as the ruby-throated hummingbird.
| Row | 🐋 Blue whale | 🐦 Ruby-throated hummingbird |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed The ruby-throated hummingbird is about 3 times as fast as the blue whale. | 20 mph32 km/h1 | 60 mph97 km/h2 |
| Weight The blue whale weighs about 46,000,000 times as much as the ruby-throated hummingbird. | 165 tons150 tonnes1 | 0.11 to 0.12 oz3 to 3.5 g3 |
| Lives The blue whale usually lives about 10 times as long as the ruby-throated hummingbird. | 80 to 90 years80 to 90 years1 | 5 to 9 years5 to 9 years4 |
| Eats The blue whale eats tiny floating sea life; the ruby-throated hummingbird eats plants and animals. | krill, tiny shrimp-like animals, by the mouthful | nectar from flowers, and tiny insects |
| Lives in They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. | every ocean | eastern North America in summer; Mexico and Central America in winter |
Which one? Blue whale 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 3 times as fast as the blue whale. It isn't quite fair: the blue whale is swimming 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/blue-whale-vs-hummingbird
Where these numbers come from
- NOAA Fisheries, checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Northeast Temperate Network, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.