Sniffing Hummingbirds

Witness the tiny hummingbird, able to hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping its delicate, hollow-boned wings up to 90 times per second.

They are the only birds able to fly backwards (without the aid of hurricane-force winds). They consume more than their own weight in nectar each day, visiting hundreds of flowers to do so. They are known to survive a decade or more, which in bird years is a ripe old age. Their heart rate can reach as high as 1,260 beats per minute (even without the help of films with the word 'cheerleader' in the title).

It is said that the hummingbird order, Trochiliformes, may be over 30 million years old. Aztecs liked them enormously. Their sharp beaks were symbolic of both intimacy and weapons. Hummingbird talismans were thought to aid sexual potency and skill at warfare. I can think of a few dates where one of those might have come in handy for both reasons. Still, interesting symbolism from a designer's POV.

A few years ago I was vacationing at the family cottage; now owned by my brother. He and his wife (quite the birders) had hung a hummingbird feeder on the deck and the flying pipsqueaks would zoom in, hover and then poke their beaks to feed on sugar water. I thought nothing of it for the first few days but once my mind settled into idle time I began to watch these guys with more than a little curiosity. I noticed they always hovered before they fed.

My dog stops to sniff his food before he eats.

Huh, I thought. I didn't know hummingbirds sniffed. Go figure.

Next Sunday: Going Squirrely