Hummingbirds can consume the human equivalent of a daily alcoholic drink without getting drunk

Nature
Hummingbirds can consume the human equivalent of a daily alcoholic drink without getting drunk

While most animals avoid fermented nectar, hummingbirds routinely consume natural alcohol levels that would impair other creatures, processing the equivalent of a human cocktail every single day without showing signs of intoxication.

Hummingbirds possess an extraordinary physiological tolerance for ethanol found in fermented flower nectar. Because yeast naturally converts sugar into alcohol, these birds often consume nectar with an ethanol concentration of about 0.056 percent. Due to their high metabolism, hummingbirds drink up to 150 percent of their body weight daily, which equals a dose of 0.2 grams of ethanol per kilogram of body mass.

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