The Gift of Hummingbirds

I have Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in my garden. They fly across the Gulf of Mexico, 500 miles, non-stop each year and spend March to October with me. I think their baby birds learned to fly last week and have joined their mother at the feeder. My sister asked if I had seen their nest; sadly I have never seen a hummingbird nest. This isn’t a big surprise since the nests are only the size of a half dollar. They are built with spider silk and hidden with lichen and moss. The u-tube video below shows a nest, not only found, but photographed day by day so that the progress of the little birds is revealed.

Unlike the troubled Monarch butterfly I wrote about last week; hummingbirds are able to rub along well with humans. They like the colors we like: red, yellow, orange, pink and purple. They love the flowers we love: bee balms, columbines, daylilies, impatiens, and petunias- to name only a few. It is also extremely fortunate that hummingbirds are too teeny to eat; and happily, it is now illegal to kill hummingbirds and use their feathers for hats and clothing. link

Headdress of Montezuma II made with Hummingbird feathers;  in the Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico

Hummingbirds have thrived on Earth for a long time; originating in South America 22 million years ago. But in the Miocene, 13 million years ago, the Andes rose up and the little birds scattered across the world. link

And channeling the great mountain range, this little creature can rise into the air–straight up–its iridescent green wings shining and its scarlet throat aglow. There is only one word for Hummingbirds:  divine.

 

 

 

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