Page 7 - AHATA

A15
LOCAL Tuesday 3 december 2019

The hummingbird – our “Blenchi” Episode XLVI (46)

Continued from Page 14

But the Gods not only cre-
ated these beautiful birds
and made them free. They
also assigned them a job:
hummingbirds would have
to carry the thoughts of
men and the gods them-
selves from here to there.
That is why, according to
legend, when a humming-
bird appears before you
suddenly, it is carrying a Pic. 3 Nesting Ruby Topaz and a male in flight
message of love and af-
fection from someone who
is thinking of you, of this
land or beyond.
In Aruba there are two
different species of hum-
mingbirds, which are the
common emerald Chlo-
rostilbon mellisugus, a
relatively large and the
other less common hum-
mingbird is the Ruby-topaz
Hummingbird Crysolampis
mosquitus which have red-
dish, rounded tails unlike
the blue, forked tail of the
Blue-tailed Emerald, which
is not for Aruba. Male Ru-
by-topaz Hummingbirds
have a beautiful orange
throat and reddish head,
though in poor light it can
look dark. We rarely see
this species at the flower-
ing shrubs in contrast to the
Blue-tailed Emerald.

Only female builds nest, in-
cubates, cares for young
and defends nest site.
Breeding activity thought
to take place through-
out the year, apparently
strongly dependent on
flowering trees and shrubs
and hence generally high-
est toward the end of rainy
periods. Nests with eggs re-
corded in February, March,
May, June, October and
December. Nest delicate,
cup-shaped, made from
silken cotton of plant-fibers
and seeds.q