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Experience the magic of hummingbirds at Warner Park




Warner Park Nature Center is hosting an iSpy Hummingbirds event 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.Courtesy / Warner Park Nature CenterWarner Park Nature Center is hosting an iSpy Hummingbirds event 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Warner Park Nature Center is hosting an iSpy Hummingbirds event 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.Courtesy / Warner Park Nature CenterWarner Park Nature Center is hosting an iSpy Hummingbirds event 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Watching hummingbirds zip around from feeders to flowers is one of the most fascinating nature experiences you can have.

And on Saturday, the Warner Park Nature Center is hosting an iSpy Hummingbirds event, where you can see these fascinating birds do their thing and learn all about them from the center’s bird team.

The free hummingbird celebration is 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 28, and no reservations are required. You can just show up and see the tiny ruby-throated birds flitting around the center’s Sandy Bivens Bird Garden, where a dozen hummingbird feeders are strategically positioned to attract these little wonders.

This year’s hummingbird offering is a scaled-down version of what used to be an all-day hummingbird festival for hundreds of bird lovers. This year there is no official program, but all ages are welcome to gather in the bird garden, where there are picnic tables and benches from which you can watch the hummingbird activity.

And staffers will be on hand to answer all sorts of hummingbird questions.

Hummingbirds can flap their wings 50-70 times in one second.Courtesy / Warner Park Nature Center Hummingbirds can flap their wings 50-70 times in one second.

Hummingbirds can flap their wings 50-70 times in one second.Courtesy / Warner Park Nature Center Hummingbirds can flap their wings 50-70 times in one second.

“Families love coming out here to the Nature Center, and the hummingbirds are magical. They fly so fast to be so small,” said birding staffer Heather Gallagher.

When asked about the typical reaction to the teeny birds, which are the smallest birds in the world, she laughed, saying, “I have seen awe and fear.”

She said a great way for families to learn about the amazing birds is to stop in the center’s library and pick up a copy of “Hummingbird Behavior Bingo” before heading to the garden, where they can play the game as they watch the birds.

Gallagher also encouraged attendees to ask about the banding research project that she and the center staff have been working on for 20 years.

One of its interesting findings is that the tiny birds return to the same feeder stations year after year during their migration to and from Central America. “Some even return on the same calendar day year after year,” she said.

Hance

Hance

Visitors can tour the new Sandy Bivens Bird Garden, which was added last year and is planted with native plants and annuals to attract not only birds but also pollinators. “Every plant is labeled,” said Gallagher, who said the garden is also a good place to learn about native plants.

“Wear something red or colorful and just enjoy the hummingbirds,” Gallagher said.

The Nature Center is at 7311 Highway 100.

Details: 615-862-8555 or email wpnc@nashville.gov

For more information see www.hummingbirdsplus.org.

Mary Hance, who has four decades of journalism experience in the Nashville area, writes a weekly Ms. Cheap column. She also appears on Thursdays on “Talk of the Town” on NewsChannel 5. Reach her at mscheap@mainstreetmediatn.com and follow her on Facebook as Facebook.com/mscheap.

• Hummingbirds are the smallest birds on earth, just a few inches long and weighing only a fraction of an ounce, which is less than a penny.

 

 

• Hummers can flap their wings 50-70 times in one second. And they can fly backward as well as forward.

• Hummingbirds travel as many as 1,000 miles in migration.

• Ruby-throated hummingbirds can remember the exact location of safe habitats with flower gardens and feeder stations from year to year.

• The normal flight speed for hummingbirds is 20 mph, but the top speed is as fast as 50 mph. Researchers say they can go from perch to full speed in a second.

• Some of the favorite plants to attract hummingbirds are perennial salvia, trumpet vines, bee balm, red sage and coral honeysuckle.

• There are about 400 species of hummingbirds.

• The male is smaller than the female hummingbird, and the female does most of the work: laying the eggs, building the nest and feeding and caring for the baby birds. The male’s main job is to fertilize the eggs.

• Experts believe hummingbirds have color vision and they are able to see feeders from incredible distances.

• A hummingbird’s diet is mostly soft-bodied flying insects. They also enjoy nectar from flowers and homemade juice home birdwatchers use to attract them. To make, just mix four parts water to one part sugar and keep refrigerated until you are ready to use it. Do not add food coloring.

Source: Warner Park Nature Center

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