HAVANA- As soon as it lands on a branch, it takes flight flapping its tiny wings. In Pálpite, in southwestern Cuba, Bernabé Hernández’s garden has become a refuge for the bee hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world.
“We never get tired. There is always something new to discover,” says the 70-year-old country man, as he watches two birds pounce on a small water trough suspended in his garden.
Endemic to Cuba and considered the smallest bird in the world, the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) measures between 5 and 6 centimeters, and its weight ranges between 1.6 and 2.5 grams.
Cubans call it “zunzuncito”, a diminutive of zunzún, the generic name they give to the species, and an onomatopoeia derived from the buzzing sound its wings produce when it flies and even when it is suspended, sipping from flowers. This flapping can reach 100 times per second.
In the shady garden, where mango, guava and avocado trees flourish, half a dozen of these hummingbirds flutter at full speed before the gaze of some tourists, who rush to take photos of them.
Hernández and his wife, Juana Matos, had no intention of turning their garden into this observatory, but they ended up naming their home “The House of Hummingbirds.”
It all began more than 20 years ago, when Hernández had to start from scratch after the powerful Hurricane Michelle destroyed his house, located in a part of the Ciénaga de Zapata, the largest wetland in the Caribbean.
The regime then assigned him land and materials to build a new one in the town of Pálpite, on the edge of the wetland.
“I moved here but there were no birds,” says Hernandez. “I planted a pony tree to shade the house and it attracted some birds,” he adds, referring to the wild shrub (Hamelia patens), whose fruit is known to captivate birds.
“Insect”
What Hernández didn’t know was that the hummingbird, also known on the island as the hummingbird, is fascinated by the nectar of the vermilion-coloured flowers of the pony. Attracted by the sugary juice, the first greedy birds were not long in appearing.
“When I first saw a hummingbird, I thought it was an insect,” says Hernandez. That’s when he decided to plant other ponasi bushes, which have the particularity of flowering all year round.
Gradually, these plants began to attract hummingbirds that nest in a forest next to the house.
In addition to the hummingbird, Hernández’s garden also has another species of hummingbird that is slightly larger (10 cm) and more common, the Ricord’s emerald (Riccordia ricordii), which also inhabits other small neighboring islands in the Caribbean.
Thanks to the advice of the guides at the Ciénaga de Zapata Natural Park, famous for its remarkable biological diversity and bird species (175, both migratory and endemic), the couple learned to prepare the precise mixture of water and sugar that they pour into the water troughs and to clean them carefully to avoid fungus.
For Orestes Martínez, also a native of the Ciénaga de Zapata and a renowned amateur ornithologist who even serves as a guide to scientists who visit the area, the Hernández refuge is beneficial for the hummingbird.
“It provides protection for the bird. During breeding, the female can more easily take food from the chicks,” explains the guide.
The Mellisuga helenae is classified as a “near threatened” species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which estimates its population in Cuba at between 22,000 and 66,000 specimens.
Martínez recalls that when Hurricane Michelle hit the area in 2001, “the hummingbird disappeared. There were no flowers. Many people died.”
Although it is impossible for Hernández to know how many hummingbirds visit his garden each day, as their energetic movement makes it impossible to count them, he says he sees them throughout the year. “It is a joy to know that we have the smallest bird in the world,” he concludes excitedly.
Source: With information from AFP
