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Hummingbirds can stop in mid-flight, hover, fly sideways and backwards, and even land and take off vertically. Their maneuverability is almost breathtaking as they seem to bounce and zoom around flowers and plants, extracting nectar with long syringe-like beaks.
There are lots of different species of hummers around the world, including the Anna’s hummingbird. This medium-sized bullet of feathers is found largely along the Pacific coast from southern California up to Canada. They can be resident birds in more temperate climates, but will also migrate if they live in areas that get a lot of cold and snow.
Sometime in September, a lady in Elliston, Montana, in the mountains about 25 miles west of Helena, spotted a young Anna’s hummingbird at her feeder. Knowing this was a rare sighting in the area, she kept watching him for days returning again and again for food, even as the weather turned cold – cold enough for snow and sleet. The bird could not leave now, since abandoning the only known food supply would be fatal.
Unable to find a local rehabber in Elliston, the lady called Jane Beezley, a local wildlife artist and radio show host, to find help for the little guy. After numerous attempts, the bird was trapped and brought to Marvel Weggeman at her facility Fly Away Rehabilitation in Helena. Marvel did some research and decided Liberty Wildlife would be the best place to send him. Patty, a friend and former US Fish and Wildlife worker, was heading to Arizona, so they called Jan Miller and told her they would bring the wayward hummer to us. Patty bought a cage, padded it, installed a hummingbird feeder, and began to drive south.
1136 miles later, on October 13th, Patty and her little passenger arrived at Liberty. We took the bird and examined him, found he was in great health, and not at all tired from his "auto-migration." It was decided to try to release him in the best possible spot for hummers in the Phoenix area. I made a call to Desert Botanical Garden and found out Tuesday was "Free Admission Day," so off we went for one more short trip in a car for the small bird.
We walked through the crowds of people to an area festooned with wild flowers and foliage – and the sound of lots of hummingbirds! I reached into the cage, gently grasped the tiny living hovercraft, and took it out. Holding him at arm’s length in one hand and my camera in the other, I made my wish (a strongly held convention for Liberty releases) and with some local families watching, let him go.
He flew out of my hand and rose quickly up into a tree and perched there for several seconds before continuing on to explore his new surroundings.
As I always say, releases are the best 5 seconds of any day, and this was no exception. But with all the miles some loving people put behind this lucky little bird, the release on this day was special indeed!
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