Page 18 - Boca Club News - June '21

Page 18, Boca Club News

The Arts

Book Review... “The Hummingbirds’ Gift:

Wonder, Beauty, and Renewal on Wings”

By Nils A. Shapiro

How does one
describe perfection?

I sensed it the moment I came
across this small (5-1/8” x 7-1/4”),
“keepsake”-size, slender book with its
elegantly designed cover—a volume
so perfectly suited to its subject: the jewels of the skies, the
tiniest birds in the world.
And when I noted the name Sy Montgomery—the
award-winning author of more than 30 books, many of them
international bestsellers about the creatures of land, sea and
sky with whom we share this planet—I knew that this was one
I would want to share with my column’s readers. Right then
and there, I turned to the jacket’s front flap just intending to
find out what the book was about...and, before I realized it,
standing in place I had read the author’s Introduction and a
few more pages, and decided that what I had already learned
about the remarkable life of hummingbirds was alone worth Author Sy Montgomery
the price of the book! describes how she first became
I should have known that, in Sy Montgomery’s hands, interested in these unique birds,
there was so much more to treasure here. After all, The when she met a dedicated woman,
Boston Globe refers to Ms. Montgomery as “a combination of Brenda Sherburn La Belle, who is
Indiana Jones and Emily Dickinson,” because of the beautiful associated with a California wildlife
writing style in which she describes her adventuresome hospital, WildCare, that has rescued
experiences. These include being chased by a silverback infant and orphaned hummingbirds
gorilla in Africa; hunted by man-eating tigers in India (which and raised them until they can be
was the subject of a National Geographic TV documentary); released into the wild. In “The
working in a pit with 18,000 snakes; being undressed by an Hummingbirds’ Gift,” Sy takes
orangutan in Borneo; swimming with piranhas, electric eels us, step by step—complete with
and dolphins in the Amazon, visiting with octopuses in the color photos—through the rescue
ocean, and more. and survival of Maya and Zuni,
Readers of this column will remember reviews of several two orphaned hummers, from their
of Sy Montgomery’s books, among them: “The Soul of an naked, featherless first days—a size
Octopus” (a bestseller in 25 countries); “How to Be a Good almost as small as a dime—and what
Creature;” “The Magnificent Migration” about the vast it took to keep them alive, to the day
wildebeest herds in the Serengeti, and most recently, “Condor they entered the skies.
Comeback.” It is a heartwarming, beautiful story, as only Sy thoughtfully included in the book as being those that attract
Now, she shifts her focus from the Condor—the bird with Montgomery—who was there to witness this mini these wonderful flying jewels.
the largest wingspan in North America—to one which, among miracle—could describe it for us. One that has motivated We look forward to feeding, and seeing, them. You
its approximately 240 species in the Western hemisphere, has my wife, Linda, and me to hang in our home garden should look forward to reading this book as soon as
a total body size that can measure just over two inches! But three hummingbird feeders (each with places for five possible. It is a perfect joy.
in so many ways the hummingbird is a miracle of nature—a birds to feed at a time), and to have now added several
fragile, delicate creation consisting of a big heart, nine flowering “hummingbird” plants from the list that Sy has
internal air pockets, hollow bones, and legs so slender they
have been described as “thread-like.”
Since the shimmering beauty of many hummingbirds is
already legendary, I offer the following brief excerpt as just
one small taste of how much more about these mini-marvels
of the skies awaits you in these pages:
“Alone among birds, they can hover, fly backward,
even fly upside down. For such small birds their speed is
dive out of the sky reaching sixty-one miles per hour, plunging NoN-Toxic cancer immunotherapy
astonishing...a male Allen’s hummingbird, for instance, can

from fifty feet at a rate of more than sixty feet per second—and
pulling out of his plunge, he experiences more than nine times
the force of gravity. Adjusted for body length, the Allen’s is Available NoW
the fastest bird in the world. Diving at 385 body lengths per
second, this hummer beats the peregrine falcon’s dives at 200 Safe and Effective!
body lengths per second—and even bests the space shuttle as
it screams down through the atmosphere at 207 body lengths
per second. This is the Original Immunotherapy that
“Hummingbirds’ wings beat at a rate that makes them
a blur to human eyes, more than sixty times a second. For balances and optimizes your immune system to
centuries, people deemed hummingbird flight pure magic. fight almost any type of cancer.
Until the invention of the stroboscope, scientists could not
understand how hummingbirds hover. With a flash duration of
one hundred thousandth of a second, the stroboscope finally Hundreds of successes over the years.
revealed the motion of wings that had been too fast for other
cameras to capture.” Continuously available since 1977
Try for a moment to imagine a wing beat of sixty times
per second—over and over again, as the hummingbird moves in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island
from flower to flower all day long, hovering over each one as
it drinks the nectar with its long beak. The energy required
is enormous, which is why hummingbirds have large hearts, See our website for more info:
and why they must feed every 20 minutes in order to survive.
And think about this: There are tiny hummingbirds that www.Quantumimmunotherapy.net
migrate from Mexico to Alaska, and that cross the entire
500-mile span above the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight! or call for more information: Toll-free number (561) 766-0878
Unable to feed at any point across the Gulf, they are near
starvation by the end of their flight and must find sustenance Email: Quantimmuno@gmail.com
immediately.