Homage to Hummers

The hummingbird is made of jewels and glass
A million embedded in its miniature body
Obsidian eyes and paper-thin emeralds
Enclasp the delicate feather's sheen

Billions of rainbows bounce off 
A hummingbird's body, shimmering
And glittering like some sort of fantastic alien


The hummingbird was dipped
 in hundreds of pools
 of gold, silver and copper
And all sorts of other strange iridescent liquids
From different planets 
That shift and sliver like a snake
From color to color to color

Some hummingbirds have twisted canes
Dangling from their tail, with a bead of sapphire at the tip
Others have magic discs
A thousand shades of turquoise and green
And laced with glitter
Hanging from their ends. 


The lanky lance of the hummingbird
is sometimes curved like a crescent moon,
sometimes it slips like a sickle
sometimes, 
the hummingbird has 
Wires coming out of its head.

And yet, with the heavy burden of grace
hummingbirds are bullets
Powered with energy like a shotgun
Maneuverable to the last millisecond.
A falcon in the spirit, a quetzal in the body


All the colors in the rainbow
are not enough to describe the beauty of the hummingbirds





In southern California, we don't get very many hummingbirds. The ones we do are certainly beautiful, but are dwarfed by the legendary hummingbirds of Ecuador, 135 in total. Their names are set in stone in the birding myths of North America: the Booted Racket-tail, Violet-tailed Sylph, Velvet-purple Coronet, Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Wire-crested Forktail, and a ton of others. I say "myth," because whenever some birder comes back from South America  with photos of these hummingbirds and declares he/she has seen those birds, everyone is so overwhelmed with jealousy that they can't believe it. Literally. 

Not the best picture but it really shows the fire of the male's gorgets.

I guess I really shouldn't be complaining because after all, hummingbirds can only be found in the Americas and the ones I get are beautiful.

All this talk about hummingbirds reminds me of an old Indian myth my first-grade teacher told me about the strength and magic of hummingbirds! I have no idea how close my version is to the actual tale, as it is based on memory and my imagination only.

When the world was new and the air was full of dew, all the animals of planet Earth got along with each other. For nourishment, all settled on grass and vegetation as it was the only substance that was readily available and would keep the animals in good health, and the Goddess of the Earth demanded that it stay this way. The sun shone all day and there was no night, and for a long, long time, life was peaceful. 

Of course, some animals were not content. They tired of grass and flowers and leaves, and wished to try something new.

Brown Bear went to the river and decided by himself to kill and eat the salmon. After sampling, he discovered it was ravishingly tasty and told the other animals.  

"Coyote, try the salmon. It is delicious and satisfying."

Coyote could not catch the slippery salmon with his blunt claws, so he chased the Jack-rabbits until he caught and ate one. The Jackrabbits and the Salmon complained to the Goddess of the Earth and Skies. The Goddess became angry.

"From now on to eternity, the Earth shall become as dark as a rabbit-hole to punish the creatures of Earth for their insolence!"

And she was true to her word. The goddess placed a pitch-black curtain over the sky to block the sun out. For many, many months, the Earth was indeed as dark as a rabbit-hole. The animals were miserable and sorry. The most miserable of all was Hummingbird, who called a meeting to the lowest valley in the lands to decide what was to be done.

"One of us birds should fly up to the blanket and rip it in half!" Pheasant proposed.

"But who is strong enough to do that?" Everyone else rejected the plan.

Only Hummingbird, the tiniest of all birds, a mere speck nest to Pheasant, responded, "I will do it."

And she flew up to the highest mountain peak, and flew even higher from there, until she reached the blanket, and she poked it once before her strength gave out and she fell back to Earth. 

But Hummingbird would not give up. Again and again she flew, up, up, and up, and each time she fell back down, until there were thousands of tiny white specks in the blanket where daylight fell through.

On the last time, Hummingbird again flew. As fast as as a storm she flew, past the clouds and the cold, and this time she ripped open a huge, round hole. Alas, all the flying was too much for her and she dropped down and fell dead.

The goddess was so impressed and moved by the courage and strength of Hummingbird she announced that from now on she would place the blanket on every 12 hours, and take it off again every 12 hours. 

And that is the story of how Hummingbird created the moon and stars, and why we now have day and night. 

-chiccadee

Nest!