Song of a Hummingbird

Everyone knows hummingbirds don’t sing. They are totally amazing, the tiniest birds in the world and so colorful. But they don’t sing. Yet, to me, they do make music.

I’m no expert on hummingbirds. In fact, I would lose in any hummingbird trivia competition. We don’t even have many come to our feeders because we have not concentrated on growing the flowers they prefer. But they have been gracious to visit us anyway. I set the grandchildren to watching with cameras in hand to get a picture of one of our ruby throats, but none of us could be quick enough. I had to rely on “borrowing” a picture (above) from Pixel!

After looking up a few facts gleaned by researchers who tag these tiny little fellows and get information other ways as well, I’m even more amazed by them.

I learned that their migration is the longest of any bird considering their size and miles traveled. They migrate from Alaska to Mexico twice a year, a trip of 3,000 miles. The birds from our area fly nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico, about 500 miles. They have a fantastic ability to remember where the best nectar is, even from one year to the next, where the feeders hang, even which flowers they’ve already harvested and how long it would take for those flowers to fill again with juicy nectar. They can, according to a 2020 study, see colors undetected by the human eye, such as a certain purple. They have to eat every 10 to 15 minutes so they’re constantly on the move. Yet they can store fat for those long 18-20 hour flights across the Gulf. They can fly as fast as a car and they migrate in groups known as charms instead of flocks.

The sounds they make are the humming of their wings and a chirpy, squeaky sound of pleasure when they’re drinking nectar. A ruby throated hummingbird’s wings beat 70 times per second in direct flight, more than 200 per second while diving. They’re the only vertebrates capable of sustained hovering. They can fly forward or backward or even upside down, real aerial acrobats! To hear their chirpy little squeak of pleasure as they hover at the feeder you have to listen intently.

If you look up hummingbird songs online you will find songs about hummingbirds, not by them. Why am I writing about a hummingbird’s song?

Because hummingbirds, with all their abilities and beautiful colors make me want to sing. The sight of a ruby throat stirs joy in my heart. Their swiftness and humming wings and darting movements cause Charles and me to leap out of our lethargy and exclaim “Hummingbird!” Even 300 miles apart my sisters and I can share the excitement of seeing hummingbirds at each of our porches as we chat on the phone. Just seeing one little ruby throat instantly cheers me.

The hummingbird’s song is all but silent but it makes us wake up to God’s gifts right at our windows or porches. And what beautiful music it is!

How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Psalm 104:24

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