Every Day Is Special: hummingbirds

Showing posts with label hummingbirds. Show all posts

September 14 – HummerBird Celebration in Texas

Posted on September 14, 2013

Herds of elephants and zebras migrate to find food during wet and dry seasons. Pods of whales and “waddles” of emperor penguins migrate north to feed and south to breed. Monarch butterflies and ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate to avoid winter's cold.

During their migration, ruby-throated hummingbirds often appear at hummingbird feeders in Rockport and Fulton (on the Gulf coast of Texas) the exact same day every year! And so there is a celebration to welcome the hummers!

And, boy, what a celebration! Many people like to go bird-watching as a hobby, and the Texas towns welcome these “birders” with boat trips, bus tours, speeches and workshops. This year you can learn how to grow a garden that will attract hummingbirds, about hummingbird “courtship,” or how to photograph hummingbirds. You can watch a video about the “world's most fascinating hummingbirds,” band hummingbirds' tiny little legs, or visit homes whose owners have succeeded in attracting hummers every years.

I always picture hummingbirds sipping nectar, but they also eat tiny insects and spiders. They need to eat insects so that they can get the amino acids and proteins that are missing from nectar. So they are omnivores!

Here are some hummingbird facts:

Hummingbirds are the smallest of all birds. The smallest hummer (the bee hummingbird) is just 5 centimeters long (not quite two inches).

Some adult hummingbirds weigh less than a penny.

Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.

Hummingbirds can go into a torpor state when it is cold—but when they are in normal temperatures and they are flying, their teeny little hearts can beat as many times as 1,260 beats per minute!

To learn more about hummingbirds, check out this website or watch the National Geographic Kids video.

Also on this date:

San Jacinto Day in Nicaragua

Anniversary of the completion of the first North American lighthouse

Anniversary of the completion of Handel's Messiah

Plan Ahead!

Check out my Pinterest pages on September holidays, September birthdays, and historical anniversaries in September.

And here are my Pinterest pages on October holidays, October birthdays, and historical anniversaries in October.

August 10 – Independence Day in Ecuador

Published on August 10, 2013

Ecuador lies on the equator. It's a South American country, and it's primary language is Spanish. You might think that Ecuadorians would use pesos or reales for money (they used to)...but you would be wrong.

Instead, Ecuadorians use U.S. dollars!

Here is a list of countries that have adopted the U.S. dollar as their “legal tender”:

Bonaire

British Virgin Islands

East Timor

Ecuador

El Salvador

Fed. States of Micronesia

Marshall Islands

Palau

Panama

Saba

Sint Eustatius

Turks and Caicos Islands

By the way, just because these nations have adopted the U.S. dollar, it doesn't mean that they have adopted pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Instead, Ecuador offers centavo coins.

I read on a travel website that, although Ecuadorians use U.S. dollars, most vendors do not have very much change. You couldn't use a $20 bill to buy a $5 item there (unless you're in a “keep the change” sort of mood), like you can in the U.S. So travelers are urged to bring lots and lots of ones and fives.

Whether you are using your U.S. dollars to purchase roasted guinea pig (a common food in Ecuador!) or roasted maize kernels (a bit like popcorn), ice cream from a street vendor at midnight or fresh-squeezed “tree tomato” juice from a sidewalk market in the morning...Ecuador has lots of interesting foods to try and (hopefully) enjoy.

More on Ecuador...

The Galapagos Islands, famous for the unique creatures that Darwin studied before coming up with his theory of evolution through natural
selection, are a part of Ecuador.

There are 131 species of hummingbirds in Ecuador, more than any other country.

Ecuador exports more bananas than any other country in the world—almost 1/3 of the world's supply! (Even though Ecuador is only about the size of Nevada!)