Catching sight of a tiny, colorful hummingbird can be a truly magnificent spectacle. Named after the noise their wings make during flight, hummingbirds can frequently be seen hovering over flowers and lapping up nectar in nature, yet it's probably not so common to bump into one in the street.
Edy Varela was working at his electronics shop in Brazil when he suddenly spotted a tiny bird coming towards him, struggling to fly. What happened next left this man with goosebumps.
More info: Edy Varela
Edy Varela rescued a struggling baby hummingbird next to his electronics store and then realized that the bird wasn't alone
Image credits: Edy Varela
Image credits: Edy Varela
Image credits: Edy Varela
Image credits: Edy Varela
It seemed to be another casual day at work, but when Edy saw a tiny bird flying erratically and bumping into things, he knew that there was something wrong. Therefore, he decided to help by gently catching the hummingbird with his hand and taking a closer look.
"She was weak and tired," the man explained. "I saw that she needed help."
After a few attempts, Edy finally managed to catch the hummingbird, but wasn't sure enough what to do next since he didn't have much knowledge about the birds.
Yet it didn't take long before a new arrival approached. The bird’s worried mother came rushing to see what happened. She started flying around, checking on her baby.
"I got goosebumps, I thought it was so beautiful and unique," Edy said and shared the video in which people can see both birds calmly sitting on his hand.
The man fed and cared for the hummingbird baby until she was strong enough to fly on her own
Image credits: Edy Varela
Image credits: Edy Varela
Even knowing that the baby hummingbird wasn't alone, Edy didn't leave her only to her mother’s care; instead, he decided to give them both a shelter for a while in his store.
It took a few days of careful care and feeding, but then the baby was finally strong enough to fly on her own.
"She went home with her mother," Edy said.
The video about this wonderful encounter received over 3 million likes so far. One of the commentators, Nathália Diniz, who appeared to be a biologist, explained that the baby bird was moving around learning to fly, therefore it's normal that its movements weren't very smooth, yet, of course, the busy streets around Edy's store weren't safe training grounds.
The woman also mentioned that Edy's solution of giving both birds shelter for some time in his store was a really good decision because unlike in natural environments, in the city, hummingbirds face lots of dangers.
Since the rescue, the hummingbird still passes by Edy's store
Image credits: Edy Varela
This beautiful story reminded me of another very similar rescue in which a former SWAT officer from Georgia, Mike Cardenaz, saved a hummingbird with broken wings.
"Several of his feathers in his wings were broken off and he couldn't take flight," Mike shared at the time.
The man named the tiny bird Buzz and made sure he was nursed back to health.
"I had to wait until he molted, and regrew new wings. That was 8 weeks. And he became a part of the family," he recalled the memories. "He would fly around the yard and come back when he got exhausted because that was his comfort zone until he finally took off for the winter."
But what makes this story so special is that the rescued hummingbird continuously comes back to pay visits to Mike's family.
"He's been coming back for the last four years," the man said.
Hummingbirds don’t usually land in people’s hands or trust dogs, but Buzz always flies right to Mike and isn’t afraid to be around his German shepherds.
Image credits: NBC News
Image credits: NBC News
Image credits: NBC News
There are over 350 known hummingbird species in the world, and the smallest one of them is called the bee hummingbird. This one is so tiny that it reaches only a bit over 5cm in length, weighing less than 2g.
For those curious about how fast the hummingbird's wings are, they beat between 50-80 beats per second, making them blurry to the human eye, yet when they dive, their wings can flap an astonishing 200 times per second!
The heart of these mesmerizing birds seems to race very quickly as well - over 1200 beats per minute, which is more than 20 beats every single second.
And I believe a no less interesting fact is that hummingbirds are the only ones able to fly backwards for a significant amount of time.
Image credits: Jean Paul Montanaro / Pexels
Image credits: Jean Paul Montanaro / Pexels
Image credits: AS R / Pexels
Image credits: Jean Paul Montanaro / Pexels
Edy Varela not only had a rare chance to take a closer look at one of the world's most mesmerizing birds, but very possibly saved this baby hummingbird's life.
Since the bird keeps coming back to Edy's store, who knows, maybe the man has gained a true and very special friend through this wonderful encounter as well?
This rare and beautiful encounter between Edy and the baby hummingbird melted hearts all over the internet
