H is for Hummingbird
As you know, I love animals, and among animals, I have a soft spot for birds. If you’d like to know why, see G for Grizelda Greenfinch, in 2013’s A-Z Challenge.
If I see a post on Facebook about birds, I take notice.
When I saw this bird, from La Bioguia’s page, I just had to write a poem about it.
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Rufous Hummingbird
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What bird is this that whirrs its jewels
into the hum of day?
Its throat turns rubies into gold
and steals sun to display.
.
The flowers open wide their throats
and scream bright reds to win it –
what a wondrous world this is
that has such wings within it!
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Hummingbirds certainly are the most wonderful creatures. They can fly backwards, and sideways, something no other bird can do.
They are the smallest birds, and need to eat 7 times per hour to keep themselves going – after all, their wings beat 70 times a minute and their metabolism is roughly 100 times that of an elephant.
Like most birds, they can see ultraviolet light, but they have little or no sense of smell. I didn’t know this and had to amend my poem above!
Their feet are very weak and they cannot walk on them – but they do like to perch.
A hummingbird’s favourite colour is red – giving me the perfect line to replace the one about scents!
Watch a rather drab hummingbird transform with light in this short video from LabofOrnithology:
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Hope you have enjoyed this A-Z, if you’d like to see more, come back here tomorrow or visit the A-Z Challenge page and support someone else!
Facts about hummingbirds from World of Hummingbirds.
All prose and poetry © Liz Brownlee.
- Posted in: A-Z Blog Challenge 2015 ♦ Animals ♦ Poems ♦ Sustainability
- Tagged: animals, bird, flowers, hummingbird, nature, poem, poetry, science, sustainability, wildlife
lizbrownlee - poet 
The hummingbird is just one amazing bird and it looks so dull until the light hits it and then it is like a disco explosion of colours. Great poem as always. Learning allot form what you are writing
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Thanks, Birgit!
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I was just watching a hummingbird today 🙂
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You lucky thing! The closest we have is a moth that looks like a hummingbird!
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That’s some pretty cool info. I did not know they could fly backwards. Love the poem.
~~Diana J (unlostblogger.blogspot.com)
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Thank you, Diana! They can almost fly upside down, and also sideways. They are truly aerial experts!
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What a great poem, humming birds are fascinating and stunning. Unfortunately, we don’t see many where I live, but in the summer we do get a lot of Humming-bird Hawk-moths, they’re fun to watch too. 🙂
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Thanks, Elise, we also get hummingbird hawk moths, but they are quite rare here. Hummingbirds however, are non-existent!
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Near us there is a small ecological park in which an entire barranco (ravine) has been enclosed with fine mesh and provided with a stream. Inside this live a variety of birds, including humming-birds, plus butterflies. Visitors walk through, dodging flashes of brilliant colour.
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How lovely! I’d be tempted to walk through wearing a nectar hat…
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I love love love hummingbirds! They are adorable and are so fast. That photo is amazing. I can never even find my camera by the time I find it they are long gone!
TheFrogLady
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I have the same trouble with butterflies. I take it out with me, have it on, and hope to find a butterfly that has just hatched, so it is slow! Not sure you’d find a just hatched hummingbird so easily!
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yeah! It wasn’t until last summer that I found a hummingbird in our backyard! It was a surprise as we are in the city so I didn’t think there would be any.
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What a beautiful poem, photo and post!! I got to appreciate the hummingbird more after reading The Hunger Games but did not realize how tiny they are! And their colour come alive even the head of that bird in the video was beautiful!
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Yes – they are the tiniest bird, some are only the size of a bumble bee!
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Wow. I did not know that. I may read more about them. There is one that ears at my moms feeder
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Awesome and informed post, clearly well researched. 🙂 good luck on the rest of the A to Z!
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Thank you, Leesha!
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Sweet post! Hummingbirds are up there with dragonflies for me – I always feel lucky when I see either – magical creatures.
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They are fabulous!
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Oh I didn’t know that about their feet. A friend of mine has a whole group that comes to her house every year. It’s amazing to see.
Anna @ herding cats & burning soup
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It’s one of my ambitions to see a hummingbird. One day!
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