Everywhere I've been this week in the Texas hill country, there are black-chinned hummingbirds hovering in the salvia or at feeders, buzzing each other with their fast, fiercely territorial aerobatics. The migrating ruby-throateds should be visiting soon as well. The two species look pretty similar until they're in sunlight where you can see the necks of the black-chinned males turn a vibrant purple, the ruby-throated a fiery red.

You can hear their chatter, but you're most likely to first notice the whirr, the buzzing of their wings in motion, more like large insects than birds. That they live primarily off nectar from flowers also makes you think of insects.

Some facts about hummingbirds, gleaned from the March 2007 issue of Texas Co-Op Power:

-Heartrate up to 1200 beats per minute
-flight speed 25 to 55 miles per hour
-a hummingbird egg would fit on top of a penny
-because they flap their wings in a circular, figure-8 motion, hummers can fly backwards, unlike other species of birds

Some years back on a chilly damp day, a man delivering a package pointed to a tiny bird on the patio. A hummingbird had dropped off its perch, stunned by the cold. I picked it up, so tiny, so light a container of energy. Its feathers were irridescent green, its beak long and slender.

I sat on the bench. The bird grew warm between the palms of my hands. When it was recovered, it flew away.