Image by Frederick Mitchell Jr.

I love living in a place with hummingbirds. I am always happy to see one. During a walk a couple summers ago, I saw eight different hummingbirds on the same day. They are extraordinary creatures. They weigh less than a nickel, can fly backwards, can migrate for hundreds of miles alone (the Rufous Hummingbird migrates 4,000 miles every year, between Alaska and Mexico) , they lay eggs the size of a coffee bean, make nests with things like spider silk so the nests can expand as their young grow, can beat their wings 50 times per second, feed on nectar or sugar water every 15 minutes, and can put themselves into a state of torpor (during which their metabolism slows by 95%) if they do not find the food they need or want to conserve energy before migrating.