Hummingbirds make this very interesting and unique sound. You can hear them coming long before you see them, if you do get that chance. The Hummingbird is a fascinating creature, their hovering wings making an infinity symbol. This smallest of birds, weighing as light as 3 grams, is a powerhouse of symbolism and insight. Let’s dig into what Hummingbird wisdom is.
Did you know …
Hummingbirds flap their wings about 80 times a second and hence that humming sound hence the humming bird. If you have seen them in their aerial dance, you may have observed they can fly in all directions, even backwards and upside down. Wild! Hummingbirds can fly as early as 18 days old.
Their specialized bill allows them to extract the nectar – the sweetness – from flowers. They also eat tree sap, pollen, insects, and drink that sugar water from your feeder. Hummingbirds also have this long tongue they use to lick their food. About 13 licks a second! They eat a whole lot – like every couple of minutes – because they consume their energy so quickly with their high rate of breathing and heartbeat and high body temperature. Their heart beats about 1,260 times a minute.
With 300+ species, Hummingbirds are found in the western hemisphere in the Americas from the tropics to Alaska, USA, and down to South America. You can help refuel them on their migratory route and create a Hummingbird-friendly backyard. A messenger between worlds, the Hummingbird appears in the legends of many cultures and nations, including the Hopi, Quechuan, Mayan, and Aztec.
[info from Defenders of Wildlife]
Hummingbird Wisdom
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Sweetness is within
Perhaps the most valuable wisdom the Hummingbird offers us – seek the sweetness and that sweetness is within. What that is depends on who we are. What fuels us, enlivens and feeds us? Find the sweetness that uplifts our vibrations.
When a Hummingbird appears in your life, take a honest look at how much joy you have in your life. What are your energy resources and sources? What activities do you expend energy on? Are you enjoying or even acknowledging life’s sweet moments?
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Perspective
With amazing agility, the Hummingbird can fly in any direction and hover. We can be reminded and inspired to look at a situation from all angles. This includes stepping back for a forest-perspective. Or jump back to see where we were misaligned in our choices. What can we learn and then let go? Do we seek out the sweet and the beauty? The perfection represented by the infinity symbol?
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Lightness
The Hummingbird is a tiny bird, light and full of lightness. How do we move through life? With heaviness or gratitude? Do we use a light and gentle touch with those in our lives, the larger world, and Mother Earth? How can we let go more? Of our beliefs, of anything that weighs us down in fear and inaction?
Antoinette Biehlmeier of Inner Dynamics shares this about her shamanic training :
“Hummingbird represents the North, and stands for the courage to embark on an epic journey due to their long migration from Canada to Brazil. Here in the North we acknowledge the Elders, ancestors, and our children’s children. Hummingbird invites us to hear and see what is hidden, to connect with the soul through music and poetry. When called we ask Hummingbird to teach us to only drink from the finest nectar and support us throughout our own epic journey.”
Hummingbird words and reminders:
vitality – joy – sweetness – infinity – agility – playfulness – lightness of being – love – beauty – courage
Have you seen a Hummingbird lately? Perhaps hearing one in the air? Maybe on TV or in some “random” way. Take the opportunity to hover over your life for a few moments to see what message the Hummingbird is bringing you. Hummingbird wisdom is profound medicine.
Haven’t had the pleasure of watching a Hummingbird? Check out these iridescent birds up close where they live at the UCLA campus office of Melanie Barboni, the Hummingbird Whisperer.
