Hummingbirds

As an architecture student interested in urban design, I studied the plan of Brasilia, some say shaped like an airplane, others a bird. I was fascinated by the modern capital city, constructed in the 1960's. In February, March and April of this year, I lived there while I studied language, culture and the history of Brazil at a Roman Catholic school. What I saw there was a lot of cold concrete and poured pavement, and a city design that ignored humanity. The organization of the design places the military at the top, followed by government, then commerce, and at the very bottom, or underneath, the people. There are parks and open spaces, and the campus included the equal of five acres of green space. Outside my window, mother monkeys (macacas) cleaned and taught their offspring, feeding them bananas and avocados. I loved awakening to their playful screeching calls, as they began their day. I knew that I was alive and that everything was good. On late afternoon walks, I watched the hummingbirds bulking up to 25 to 40 percent their normal body weight of under two grams, feeding on nectar and insects and preparing for their long migration northward, on a path that they would repeat their entire lives. They travel independently, but travel the same course as others, but not in flocks. Some will fly as far north as Canada, to their nesting habitat. They will pass over the borders and boundaries of countries and territories, without passport or visa; just as God intended. The tiny migrant workers are ambassadors of Peace, Justice and Inclusion, connecting the Americas; South, Central and North and the Caribbean. They connect the land and its inhabitants in an extraordinary and profound way. Native only in the Western Hemisphere, those seen in Africa are from ones set free from captivity. Simply, it would be impossible for them to travel over the Atlantic. I've observed hummingbirds in North America (Canada and the U.S., including the Rocky Mountains, Eastern Seaboard and Appalachian Mountains), and in Central and South America. Factors such as weather stimulate their migration, and changes have altered their flight. Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation is effecting their nectar corridors, due to loss of flowering plants. If we lose them, we will lose one more important connection with Creation. And, a reconciling force in the Americas. Save the hummingbirds.