Fastest Things on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood

ISBN: 0544416031

Author: Masear, Terry

Condition: New

A heartwarming account of the trials and triumphs a hummingbird rehabber encounters while caring for her tiny, fragile patientsBefore he collided with a limousine, Gabriel, an Annas hummingbird with a head and throat cloaked in iridescent magenta feathers, could spiral 130 feet in the air, dive 60 miles per hour in a courtship display, hover, and fly backward. When he arrived in rehab caked in road grime, he was so badly injured that he could barely perch. But Terry Masear, one of the busiest hummingbird rehabbers in the country, was determined to save this damaged bird, who seemed oddly familiar. During the four months that Terry worked with Gabriel, she took in 160 hummingbirds, from a miniature nestling rescued by a bulldog and a fledgling trapped inside a skydiving wind tunnel at Universal CityWalk, to Pepper, a female Annas injured on a film set. In their time together, Pepper and Gabriel form a special bond and, together, with Terrys help, learn to fly again. Woven around Gabriels and Peppers stories are those of other colorful birds in this personal narrative filled with the science and magic surrounding these fascinating creatures.