Hummingbirds: Jewels In Flight

Description for HUMMINGBIRDS: JEWELS IN FLIGHT by Connie Toops: Naturalist John J Audubon summed up the breathtaking appearance of the hummingbird as a "glittering fragment of the rainbow." Names such as "ruby-throated" and "green-crowned brilliant" flash with the beauty of this small bird. Prominent in myth and legend, the hummingbird is long revered for its jewellike colors and legendary aeronautical skills: It can speed as fast as thirty miles an hour, fly straight up, sideways, or backwards, or even hover like a helicopter. Some say the 338 species of hummingbirds that range over South and North America are more highly evolved than any other bird. Without question, theirs is a fascinating natural history. With HUMMINGBIRDS: JEWELS IN FLIGHT, photojournalist Toops details that history with a lively discussion of courtship, nesting, and territorial and migratory behaviors. In particular, she emphasizes eight species of hummers seen regularly in the United States plus