As I have mentioned before, birds may be largely free from the constraints of gravity, but hummingbirds are different from other birds in that they are completely free. They can fly forwards and backwards, they can stop and hover in midair, and they can even fly upside down. Straddling the border between bird and insect, hummingbirds enjoy a three-dimensional freedom of movement in space -- rather like animated figures in a CGI universe -- that's denied other, larger birds, who cannot stop in midair but must always soar, glide or flap forward.
Today I was taking my noonday walk as usual, and as I was walking past the courthouse parking lot next door, I thought back to the occasion over a year ago when I wished for a hummingbird to appear and voila! one did -- and voila! one did.
From the fidgety, restless manner of this bird I knew he/she was going to take off again soon, so I waited with my camera at the ready -- and within a couple of minutes I was rewarded with what I believe must be one of the most unusual images available on the internet of a hummingbird -- behold, the 'wingless' hummingbird in flight.
LOOKS LIKE A ROCKET WITH A BILL, NO?
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