Fastest Things On Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds In Hollywood

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A heartwarming account of the trials and triumphs a hummingbird rehabber encounters while caring for her tiny, fragile patients Before he collided with a limousine, Gabriel, an Anna’s hummingbird with a head and throat cloaked in iridescent magenta feathers, could spiral 130 feet in the air, dive 60 miles per hour in a courtship display, hover, and fly backward. When he arrived in rehab caked in road grime, he was so badly injured that he could barely perch. But Terry Masear, one of the busiest hummingbird rehabbers in the country, was determined to save this damaged bird, who seemed oddly familiar. During the four months that Terry worked with Gabriel, she took in 160 hummingbirds, from a miniature nestling rescued by a bulldog and a fledgling trapped inside a skydiving wind tunnel at Universal CityWalk, to Pepper, a female Anna’s injured on a film set. In their time together, Pepper and Gabriel form a special bond and, together, with Terry’s help, learn to fly again. Woven around Gabriel’s and Pepper’s stories are those of other colorful birds in this personal narrative filled with the science and magic surrounding these fascinating creatures.  

Hardcover: 320 pages

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (June 16, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0544416031

ISBN-13: 978-0544416031

Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 1.1 x 8.4 inches

Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #227,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #51 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Endangered Species #204 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Birds & Birdwatching > Field Guides #286 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Field Guides

From Rescue to Release: A Young Hummingbird’s Two-Month Journey through Rehab View larger View larger View larger This rufous nestling fledges and leaves the nest three to four weeks after hatching. Nests in the wild usually have two chicks, a female and a male. The rapidly growing fledgling enters a small flight cage where he learns to eat formula from feeders, perch through the night, and develop basic flight skills. A week later, the teenager moves to a large flight cage where he practices more advanced flight skills, including 360-degree rotations and hovering in midair.

View larger View larger View larger The young adult joins five to twenty rescued hummingbirds in an outdoor aviary, where he learns to mine flowers, use a sugar feeder, and catch fruit flies in flight. Before his release, the adult hummingbird masters sophisticated flight maneuvers, including how to flip, spin, barrel roll, and fly backward, sideways, upside down, and in a straight vertical. In the wild, the rufous migrates up to 7,000 miles each year. His wings rotate in a figure-eight pattern from sixty to over one hundred times per second.

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