🐦 Ruby-throated hummingbird vs Ostrich 🐦
The ostrich is about 35 times as tall as the ruby-throated hummingbird. The ruby-throated hummingbird is about one and a half times as fast as the ostrich. The ostrich weighs about 35,000 times as much as the ruby-throated hummingbird.
| Row | 🐦 Ruby-throated hummingbird | 🐦 Ostrich |
|---|---|---|
| Top speed The ruby-throated hummingbird is about one and a half times as fast as the ostrich. | 60 mph97 km/h1 | 43 mph69 km/h2 |
| Weight The ostrich weighs about 35,000 times as much as the ruby-throated hummingbird. | 0.11 to 0.12 oz3 to 3.5 g3 | 198 to 300 lb90 to 136 kg2 |
| Lives The ostrich usually lives about 5 times as long as the ruby-throated hummingbird. | 5 to 9 years5 to 9 years4 | 30 to 40 years30 to 40 years2 |
| Eats Both eat plants and animals. | nectar from flowers, and tiny insects | seeds, grass, leaves, flowers and insects |
| Lives in They live in different kinds of places, so they would hardly ever meet. | eastern North America in summer; Mexico and Central America in winter | the savannas and dry plains of Africa |
Which one? Ruby-throated hummingbird or ostrich
🏁 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 ostrich. It isn't quite fair: the ruby-throated hummingbird is diving through the air and the ostrich is running.
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/hummingbird-vs-ostrich
Where these numbers come from
- National Park Service, Northeast Temperate Network, checked 30 October 2026.
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Ostrich, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service, checked 30 October 2026.