I spent five days in South Carolina watching my father’s hummingbird feeder and I didn’t spy a single hummer even though my dad’s live-in caretaker said only days ago that she saw seven different ones. I have compensated by researching hummingbird websites, locating brilliant online hummingbird photographs, and finding a helpful map of the ruby-throated HB’s recent migration. Additionally, I have discovered that hummingbirds were “sacred pollinators” in the eyes of the Taino Indians who, during the time of Columbus, resided on Carribbean isles and in northeastern South America.

Photo by Scott Robinson