Metallura

10 years ago, I put up my first hummingbird feeder. It wasn't long before a few birds showed up to eat. They nested nearby, and raised a flock of babies before flying south for the winter. The next year, the parents and their babies, now grown, returned to my feeder, and again raised babies.



Hummingbird Babies



Each year the birds have multiplied, and returned. This year, I put up 11 feeders and fill them each day. It takes about 2 gallons of sugar water each day to feed them all. There are lots of wild flowers and gnats they feed on as well.
In the morning, when all the birds come off the nests, there are clouds of birds at my windows. The noise of their fighting and the whistling of their flight fill the air. It is raucous, and lively.

When I was looking for a name that I liked for my new Etsy page, I discovered the metallura hummingbirds of South America. There are 9 types of metallura, and I loved all of their names: firethroated metaltail, coppery metaltail, viridian metaltail. Many shop names that I liked were already taken, so I was surprised to find metallura free to use. Look how beautiful this viridian metaltail, (metallura williami) is.



Metallura Williami



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