___Our 2022 Hummingbird calendar features the incomparable Marvelous Spatuletail doing his ‘Dance of Love’.
___Of note: Sir David Attenborough when asked what ten creatures he would take to the ‘Attenborough Ark’ to save from extinction, he included- you guessed it- the Marvelous Spatuletail!
___Our board member, Carole Turek, is also enamored with this little gem, travelling to see him in person displaying in his lek with other wooing male spatuletails. She writes:
___“The first time I ever heard about the Marvelous Spatuletail hummingbird was when I saw a BBC video narrated by David Attenborough featuring this bird. I must have watched this little clip a hundred times and I became almost obsessed with knowing everything I could about this hummingbird. How I rooted for the little male expending so much energy to impress the female and hoped the female would be as captivated by him as I was.
___The Marvelous Spatuletail is an endangered hummingbird, found within a rather small area in the Andean cloud forest of northern Peru. The male is green and white with a purple crown, blue gorget, and a black stripe down its chest. The tail of the mature male is unique and unmatched by any other hummingbird species. It has only four tail feathers which he can move at will: two long straight ones and two longer ones with large discs on the ends.
___I have now traveled three times to the Huembo Reserve in Peru to see the Marvelous Spatuletail and it has become a yearly tradition, missed only last year due to the pandemic. I already have plans in place for January, 2022. This wonderful hummingbird is my totem, my spirit animal. I can’t stay away.”
___You can enjoy Carole’s hummingbird discoveries at:
