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hummingbird (hùm´îng-bûrd´) noun
Any of numerous New World birds of the family Trochilidae, usually very small in size and having brilliant, iridescent plumage, a long slender bill, and wings capable of beating very rapidly, thereby enabling the bird to hover.

Hummingbird

Hummingbird, common name for any of the more than 300 species of a family of birds of the Americas. The hummingbirds are the smallest of all birds. The smallest species is the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) of Cuba, which is about 5.5 cm (about 2.17 in) long.

Hummingbirds are known for their rapid wing beat and for rapid flight. Using their long, extensible tongue, hummingbirds feed on nectar and tiny insects found within flowers, while hovering in front of the flower. They are the only birds capable of flying backwards, which they do when backing away from flowers. Most hummingbirds are brightly colored and iridescent, commonly metallic green. They build small cup-shaped nests covered with lichens, spiderwebs, and small pieces of bark, saddled on a branch.

Hummingbirds occur throughout the Americas, but most species inhabit tropical South America. Of the species found in the United States, only the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) nests east of the Mississippi River. It is notable for its long-distance migration, annually flying nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientific classification: Hummingbirds make up the family Trochilidae of the order Apodiformes.

Huitzilopochtli

Huitzilopochtli, in Aztec religion, god of war and of the sun. According to tradition, he guided the Aztecs during their migration from their mythical homeland to the valley of Mexico. Aztecs believed that dead warriors were reborn as hummingbirds, and Huitzilopochtli was usually depicted either as a hummingbird or as a warrior wearing hummingbird feathers. His mother was the earth goddess Coatlicue. As the sun god, Huitzilopochtli was born anew each morning. He was thought to require human hearts and blood for nourishment.
 

wood nymph (w¢d nîmf) noun
1. A nymph of the forest; a dryad.
2. Any of several tropical hummingbirds of the genera Thalurania and Cyanophaia.
3. Any of various butterflies of the family Satyridae, especially Cercyonis pegala, having brownish wings with dark eyespots.

hummingbird (noun)

bird: exotic bird, hummingbird, sunbird, bird of paradise, lyrebird

The Universe

Anyone informed that the universe is expanding and contracting in pulsations of eighty billion years has a right to ask, "What's in it for me?"
Peter De Vries (1910-93), U.S. author. The narrator (Jim Tickler), in _The Glory of the Hummingbird_, ch. 1 (1939).

• depiction of hummingbird that can only be seen from the air on the Nazca plains

• Hummingbird hearts beat about 1,260 times per minute, compared to the average human 70 beats per minute..
• The only bird that can fly forward, backward and sideways.
• Hummingbirds can't walk.
• A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.
• in Mexican folklore, the hummingbird symbolizes luck in love.
• Pigeons and hummingbirds have tiny magnetic particles in their heads that respond to the Earth's magnetic fields and are used for navigation.
• attracted to Kangaroo Paw
• The Harrier Jet
• experimental rock track _Hummingbird In A Cube Of Ice_ MP3 by Thinking Fellers Union Local #282 off of _Mother Of All Saints_ on Matador (1992)
• ethnic fusion track _Hummingbird_ MP3 by Ancient Future off of _Natural Rhythms_ on Philo (1984)
• The hummingbird's tiny brain, 4.2% of its body weight, is proportionately the largest in the bird kingdom.

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