The white stands out against the green and brown tangle of Bamboo. Even without the darting erratic and eye catching movement, even without the striking red bill, even without the iridescent violet namesake atop its head, the white alone is enough to know a Violet Crowned hummingbird is in the courtyard. I see it in the mornings when I sit outside, drinking coffee, making notes about the previous day. I see it in the afternoon, passing by the upstairs window, I catch the white belly in the corner of my eye and stop, pulling back the drapes the housekeeper always pulls shut so I can once again see the outside world. The Violet Crowned hummingbird is sitting there, perched on a leaf of bamboo, barely bending it, seemingly regarding me just as the house sparrows and rock doves do throughout the day. They linger, the Violet Crowned does not. He hovers, perhaps snatching insects, I've never been able to tell, though there are very few flowers in the courtyard so if he's here for food it must be meat. Is it the same bird? A different bird each day? For the first month I never saw a hummingbird anywhere near here, then one day, there was the while belly flitting in the bamboo. Every day after that he came back. Something here he liked, I suspect it was not me though I could not shake the feeling he was watching me. Hummingbirds are more than birds in Mexico. They are omens, gods, creatures of the old world. Further south in Peru, out on the Nazca plain, there is an image of a hummingbird so large it's only recognizable from many hundreds of feet in the air, which has proved puzzling to everyone since since there's no way to get several thousand feet in the air and actually see the hummingbird. the hummingbird is 93 m (305 ft) long It seems safe to assume that the creators had completely different ways of looking at the world, literally and figuratively, if may be so bold. And yet they too celebrate the hummingbird. in southern Peru, ancient artists carved out an image of a hummingbird so large that it can only be recognized at about 1,000 feet in the air. These people recognized the sacredness of nature. They understood the magnitude of these tiny gifts, which are unique to the New World. Frida painting with hummingbird necklace (Chilam Balam of Chumayel). reference andrea. --- https://vivirmexicohermoso.wordpress.com/2015/12/09/the-hummingbird-in-mexican-culture/ Hummingbird has different names in Mexico depending on the region quindes, tucusitos, picaflores, chupamirtos, chuparrosas, huichichiquis, or by name in indigenous languages: huitzilli Nahuatl, Mayan x ts’unu’um, Tzunún in huasteco or Jun in Totonac, among others. The Aztecs or Mexica, recognized hummingbirds as brave and courageous fighters. It was admired because, despite its size, showed great strength and power to fly. Its beauty, color and accuracy were highly prized qualities besides. Notably, the Aztecs believed that this bird never died, and was the symbol * Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. In the Zapotec culture, it was in charge of drinking the blood of the sacrifices. * Huitzilopochtli was usually translated as ‘left-handed hummingbird “or” Southern Hummingbird’, although there is disagreement around the meaning since the Opochtli ‘left’ is not modified and the modifier to be right, so the translation literal would be ‘left Hummingbird’ In the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel “it is called the hummingbird as a referral from a Nahuatl name, Pizlimtec, which comes from Piltzintecuhtli, Sun Young (name also Xochipilli, Aztec goddess of music, song, flowers and plants hallucinogenic), and presented himself as the father of the sun of today’s universe, it generates when it had to restructure the earth after a cosmic cataclysm. This coincides with the Popol Vuh, where the sun of today appears after the creation of men corn (De la Garza, 1995) ” --- http://www.hummingbirdworld.com/h/native_american.htm On the Nazca plain in southern Peru, ancient artists carved out an image of a hummingbird so large that it can only be recognized at about 1,000 feet in the air. These people recognized the sacredness of nature. They understood the magnitude of these tiny gifts, which are unique to the New World. This massive image can't be far from the place where, in primordial times, the first hummingbird opened its eyes to the pale light of dawn. In Peru and other South American countries, at or near the equator, there is an amazing variety of hummingbirds. Probably all of them have not been discovered yet. We know of over 300. There is a common folk belief in Mexico that hummingbirds bring love and romance. In ancient times, stuffed hummingbirds were worn as lucky charms to bring success in matters of the heart. There is a legend from Mexico about a Taroscan Indian woman who was taught how to weave beautiful baskets by a grateful hummingbird to whom she had given sugar water during a drought. These baskets are now used in Day of the Dead Festivals. A Mayan legend says the hummingbird is actually the sun in disguise, and he is trying to court a beautiful woman, who is the moon. Another Mayan legend says the first two hummingbirds were created from the small feather scraps left over from the construction of other birds. The god who made the hummers was so pleased he had an elaborate wedding ceremony for them. First butterflies marked out a room, then flower petals fell on the ground to make a carpet; spiders spun webs to make a bridal pathway, then the sun sent down rays which caused the tiny groom to glow with dazzling reds and greens. The wedding guests noticed that whenever he turned away from the sun, he became drab again like the original gray feathers from which he was made. A third Mayan legend speaks of a hummingbird piercing the the tongue of ancient kings. When the blood was poured on sacred scrolls and burned, divine ancestors appeared in the smoke. In Central America, the Aztecs decorated their ceremonial cloaks with hummingbird feathers. The chieftains wore hummingbird earrings. Aztec priests had staves decorated with hummingbird feathers. They used these to suck evil out of people who had been cursed by sorcerers. An Aztec myth tells of a valiant warrior named Huitzil, who led them to a new homeland, then helped them defend it. This famous hero's full name was Huitzilopochtli, which means "hummingbird from the left." The "left" is the deep south, the location of the spirit world. The woman who gave birth to Huitzil was Coatlicul. She conceived him from a ball of feathers that fell from the sky. Huitzil wore a helmet shaped like a giant hummingbird. At a key moment in an important battle, Huitzil was killed. His body vanished and a green-backed hummingbird whirred up from the spot where he had fallen to inspire his followers to go on to victory. After Huitzil's death, he became a god. The Aztecs came to believe that every warrior slain in battle rose to the sky and orbited the sun for four years. Then they became hummingbirds. In the afterlife these transformed heroes fed on the flowers in the gardens of paradise, while engaging from time to time in mock battles to sharpen their skills. At night the hummingbird angels became soldiers again and followed Huitzil, fighting off the powers of the darkness, restoring warmth and light. As dawn broke, the hummingbirds went into a frenzy. The sun rewarded them for this by giving them a radiant sheen. In an Aztec ritual dancers formed a circle and sang a song which included these words: "I am the Shining One, bird, warrior and wizard." At the end of the ritual young men lifted young girls helping them to fly like hummingbirds. There is another Aztec legend which says the god of music and poetry took the form of a hummingbird and descended into the underworld to make love with a goddess, who then gave birth to the first flower. grape_1.gif (1301 bytes) One of the widespread beliefs is that hummingbirds, in some way, are messengers between words. As such they help shamans keep nature and spirit in balance. The Cochti have a story about ancient people who lost faith in the Great Mother. In anger, she deprived them of rain for four years. The people noticed that the only creature who thrived during this drought was Hummingbird. When they studies his habits, the shamans learned that Hummingbird had a secret passageway to the underworld. Periodically, he went there to gather honey. Further study revealed that this doorway was open to Hummingbird alone because he had never lost faith in the Great Mother. This information inspired the people to regain faith. After that the Great Mother took care of them. --- This good-sized hummingbird was not found nesting in the U.S. until 1959. It is now uncommon but regular in summer in a few sites in southeastern Arizona and extreme southwestern New Mexico. In places where flowers are not abundant, the Violet-crowned Hummingbird may be discovered flying about or hovering in the shady middle levels of tall trees, catching small insects in flight. Mostly nectar and insects. Takes nectar from flowers, and eats many small insects as well. Will also feed on sugar-water mixtures in hummingbird feeders. Distinguished from all other North American hummingbirds by its immaculate white underparts, iridescent bluish-violet crown, and red bill, the Violet-crowned Hummingbird reaches the northern end of its range in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. There, it nests almost exclusively in the Arizona sycamore tree (Platanus wrightii), which, in the United States, is limited to the riparian zones of the arid Southwest. In Mexico, this hummingbird's range extends down the Pacific slope from Sonora through Jalisco to northwestern Oaxaca and in the interior Madrean Highlands from western Chihuahua south through Durango to Oaxaca. Within its Mexican range, it inhabits arid to semiarid scrub, thorn forests, riparian and oak woodlands, and parks and gardens. Fairly common in Mexico, it is uncommon and local in the United States. It is most easily identified by its white under plumage and iridescent bluish-violet crown (from where it gets its name). The back is emerald green. The tail is dark brown / olive green.