Sweet Little Hummingbird

As some of you may know, my hubby Dan, works for the US Coast Guard on C-130J's. While he and some co-workers were working, they came across this little hummer who was trapped inside one of the planes...which means she couldn't eat. Danny called me and asked me what he should do. I immediately thought about several articles I had read in the magazine Birds and Blooms and told him to bring it home. Hummers have such a high metabolism that they need to eat often and keep warm. From what I could find, I believe it was a female ruby-throat. The poor thing was so pitiful and wouldn't even fly. I was able to hold her right in my hand and feed her some sugar water from a syringe. If you ever have the opportunity to hold a hummingbird, they are extremely delicate...so delicate that the only way I could feel her in my hand was by her little heart beating. After a few minutes of sucking down sugar water she decided she wanted to buzz around my kitchen. After feeding her a little more, I put her safely in a baby chicken shipping box (I knew that would come handy!) for the night. We put the heat lamp close by and let her rest for the night. The next morning, she was a different bird and was ready to go! After refueling on some more sugar water, we released her and she flew to a near by tree and perched way up high to get a good look of her surroundings!