Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are special. They are in some ways more like an insect than a bird. They are designed for flowers as are many insects. Most flowers are too delicate to perch on, so the hummingbirds are very light, averaging 3.3 grams. This is so that they can hover, usually only touching the flower with the tips of their tongues as they sip the nectar. They can stay in one place, go forward or back, or up and down. The wings are virtually invisible, and the head, tail and body flex in very unbirdlike fashion as they manoeuver and balance. The iridescent feathers flash brilliant and dull, depending on the angle of reflection. This sometimes flickers like a light with a poor connection.

I have presented this pair as a diptych. The idea came from Japanese screens which have an almost arbitrary breaking of a continuous scene. This somehow forces the viewer to see the scene in a fresh way and gives the composition an alternative significance. I was conscious of the parallel between the almost stained glass glow of the back lit aspen leaves and the burning iridescence of the hummingbirds' feathers.