Knocked Out Hummingbird Flies Again
 |
| Hummingbird recovering after being knocked out. |
Why? This morning while sipping my coffee I watched a Hummingbird fly full speed into one of the large windows that surrounds my kitchen. The poor thing hit so hard that it knocked itself out and made me spill my java. A rescue quickly followed, and much to my surprise this would be my second Hummingbird rescue in as many months.
I ran outside and found the little creature laying flat on the ground with its wings spread and slowly fluttering. It reminded me of seeing a boxer trying to get up off of the mat having just been punched out by Mike Tyson. So I did my best impression of Steve Irwin and delicately picked the little fighter up and brought him inside the kitchen where my girlfriend and I had previously been enjoying a tranquil morning.
After straightening out the birds wings and getting it situated in my hand I noticed its eyes blinking a bit and it seemed to be coming back to Earth. At this point it dawned on me that it must have been strange for this bird to go from buzzing around the jungle sucking sweet nectar from flowers to waking up in the hands of a human with an iPhone.
After 15 minutes of petting the bird I felt its little claws grip my hand and it suddenly sat up, looked around and lifted off in light speed. Needless to say more coffee went flying and my girlfriend screamed something in her native Argentine Spanish. Having performed a similar indoor rescue just weeks ago, I knew that it was safe to catch a hummingbird without the use of gloves or protective eye wear - so I pursued, captured and released him back to the wild.
So today's good deed is done and hopefully my hummingbird patient is back at the nest telling his family how funny humans look when they spill hot coffee!
Here's the video of my first rescue a few months ago.
