The messenger of the Gods has come!!! The hummingbird

Best regards dear friends of. Read Cash. I have had internet problems which has not allowed me to open the page. This post was made several days ago but I have only now been able to bring it to you.

I want to tell you about a very small bird that goes by several names, some of them are: tucusitos, colibri, picaflor, pájaro mosca. A few days ago I was lucky enough to hold in my hands a tucusito that came into the house, I grabbed it because in its desperation to get out, it crashed against the ceiling. It was not easy to rescue him. I was able to catch it because it got into a place from which it could not get out.

This is a small bird with beautiful iridescent wings, that is how they look when it flies, due to the plates of air that are sheltered in its feathers and that when in contact with the sun they look that way; when the sun does not hit them their wings look dark.

Before continuing I want to make a parenthesis here, to mention that some men are called "hummingbirds" when they court several women; compared to the tucusito because it flies from flower to flower to feed, in this case each woman is a flower.

Having said that, hummingbirds or tucusitos belong to the trochilid family (Trochilidae). The variety of this species is very extensive. These birds are native to the Americas and are considered the smallest birds in the world. They are scattered everywhere, here in Venezuela they are found in greater numbers in the State of Sucre, Monagas and Caracas.

Structure

These restless birds are characterized by being tiny, measuring up to 5 cms and weighing between 1.5 and 12 grams. This size allows them to get into flowers. Their legs are short and fragile because they spend more time flying. Their beak is sharp and their tongue is tubular, which facilitates the extraction of nectar from the flowers.

The hummingbird's wings are incredible as they can maneuver with great ease, helicopter style. They are true pilots, they have the ability to hover, as if floating in the air; they fly sideways, up and down, forward and backward. They move their wings with spectacular speed, which is why they are able to hover in the air. The movement of the wings is almost imperceptible to the human eye, it is difficult to distinguish the flight. This characteristic is what really makes them fascinating and extraordinary beings, endowed by Nature with a special gift.

Feeding

These fascinating birds feed on the nectar of flowers and have the important mission of pollination every time they visit a flower. They manage to drink the nectar, by flying in a stationary way. They require a large amount of sugar due to the physical activity they perform, since they visit around 2000 flowers. They also supplement their food with the consumption of some insects and at night to retain energy they enter a kind of lethargy or hibernation, lowering their body temperature from almost 40 degrees to 17 or 20 degrees. They cannot afford to run out of energy, otherwise how would they fly the next day.Reproduction

Basically, the male courts the female and leaves her after copulation to go after other females. He does a kind of dance that reflects the beautiful colors with which he dazzles the female.

After fertilization, the females are left alone and build the nest with branches, feathers and spider webs. There they lay two tiny eggs that are hatched for approximately 12 to 16 days. When the hatchlings are born, they are fed regurgitated nectar for 4 weeks. They leave the nest to provide their own food but return to the nest and at 8 weeks leave the nest for good.

A legend

Some legends are woven around this dazzling bird but the best known is that of the Mayan world, it is a very beautiful story. The legend tells that when the Mayan gods created the world, they gave a mission to each being; animal, vegetable or stone but when they finished they noticed that no one was assigned the task of carrying the desires and thoughts from one place to another.

Then, as they no longer had mud or corn; they took a jade stone and carved a very small arrow that when it was ready, they blew and it flew away, resulting in a delicate and fast bird that reflected beautiful colors when the sunlight hit it. Thus they created the hummingbird or x ts'unu'um, messenger of thoughts and desires.

Men were so impressed by the beauty of this bird that they wanted to catch it to take its plumage as an ornament. The gods were very angry and threatened with the punishment of death. That is why a hummingbird has never been seen in a cage; it was created to be free.

Legend has it that if a tucusito flies over your head it is because someone is sending you good wishes but it could also be that it is warning you of something. On the other hand, they are believed to be messages from the afterlife.

Well, I hope you liked this post as much as I did.

The photos were taken with a phone.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)