Hummingbirds

Living in Victoria, one doesn't have to be a professional bird watcher, to notice all these small humming birds flying around your home. They can smell their special food miles away, either a trumpet-like flower or a bird feeder.

I read somewhere that hummingbirds, in spite of their size, have the biggest heart of all the birds. And last week, I had the joy of watching how caring and loving they can behave in times of distress. I was walking around my senior home, when I noticed two of them, flying in circles, up and down, and having a jolly good time. Suddenly they decided to have a drink at one of our several bird feeders. Unfortunately, one bird missed the feeder and hit a glass window. It fell to the ground motionless. I thought it had killed itself. But its companion quickly rushed down for its rescue. As hummingbirds cannot walk, it kept flying above its companion, pulling its legs and moving its head from side to side. It kept shaking its friend for threeto four minutes. The unconscious tiny bird shook its head left to right, trying to get up. It acted like a young kid and shouted: "Please, please get up! You can make it." And it did. In no time, it had rejoined its playing companion, and continued dancing like Virtue and Moir.

By Al Goguen