Hummingbirds, Day 24: A naming contest!

Since our hummingbirds will be striking out on their own fairly soon, we should probably give them a proper send-off. [info]sbennettwealer suggested a naming contest – a great idea, and I’m game if you are!

 

The rules are simple:

 

1)      Propose a pair of names suitable for hummingbirds as wondrous as these

2)      Write your entry into the comments thread of this post

3)      Extra credit for including both names in a poem or limerick

4)      The deadline for submission is Monday, 3/17 at 1:00 p.m., PDT.

 

The winning entry will be selected by a random salesperson at my local Wild Birds Unlimited.  The prize? A copy of Flight Plans: A Bird’s Eye View of Life.

 

*You might want to select gender-neutral names. Their coloring seems to suggest that they’re both female Costa’s Hummingbirds, but we won’t know for sure until they reach full maturity.

Ready? Here’s your inspiration:

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16 Comments

  5. Hum and Flutter, nest mates true,
    Messengers of spring.
    Here to say the world is new.
    Hum and Flutter, nest mates true
    Nectar’s sweet; the sky is blue.
    Fly away, be free, take wing.
    Hum and Flutter, nest mates true,
    Messengers of spring.

  8. Without further ado
    Meet Citri and Costa
    Two baby hummingbirds
    Nesting in an orange tree
    Under a green leaf umbrella.

    Orange beaks wide open
    Calling out for food
    But will soon learn to fly
    Warm ocean winds
    Guiding them through gardens
    As they search for nectar
    In the warm sun.

  9. There is a wonderful Mayan folk tale that I’ve rewritten about hummingbirds and will be submitting to one of my critique groups shortly. Here is a quick peak at the highlights.

    Tama (which means jewel)and Itzel (which means rainbow) are the first hummingbirds on Earth. They were made out of leftover scraps of grey feathers, long thin pieces of keratin, and tiny bits of bone and muscles.

    Tama and Itzel opened up their bright black eyes and fluttered their their tiny wings which whirred so fast that the air passing through ther feathers seemed to play a tune which sounded like. ‘dzu-nu-ume’,’dzu-nu-ume.’

    The Mayas heard Tama and Itzel’s music and called the smallest ones, who were no bigger than a man’s thumb, Dzunuume, or The Hummer.

    Tama and Itzel were to be married that very day and everyone wanted to help with the wedding preparations. A sweet-voiced Solitaire Thrush offered to sing its flute-like song for their wedding music. A gentle breeze shook down fragrant orange blossom petals for a carpet. Bright-winged butterflies gathered in a dancing circle around the couple. Even the spiders wanted to help and began spinning their most delicate webs to decorate the bridal pathway, telling the Tama that she could use them afterward to build her nest.

    A little brown-streaked House Finch, with his cap and throat as red as chili peppers, chirped that everything was going to be beautiful for such a lovely bride and handsome groom, but stopped in mid-sentence when he realized that Tama and Itzel were not beautiful, for their feathers were a dull, drab gray. He looked around in dismay and the other birds all stared back at him. This wouldn’t do, it wouldn’t do at all!

    The long-tailed Quetzal bird offered Tama and Itzel some of his green feathers, a Violet-green Swallow offered them her pearl white breast feathers, and then the House Finch offered them his red feathers for a wedding scarf.

    The Sun came out from behind the clouds and performed the ceremony. For a blessing he sent down his most dazzling rays straight to Tama’s and Itzel’s throats, making the red scarf feathers flash red and gold like a leaping flame.

    The Sun then declared that the feathers of all hummingbirds would always gleam with fire-and-jade magic, as long as they look toward him. But whenever they turned away from the light, their feathers would darken again to remind them of the gray feathers they first wore and would still be wearing, if not for the unselfish gifts from their friends.

    So my choice for names would be Tama and Itzel

  10. The other day we were out for a walk and heard a bird squeaking up in a cherry tree. When we looked up, up, up, there in the very top branches was a tiny hummingbird. So I think the names of the birds could be Squeak and Squawk. Although Tumble and Topple might be fun, too. Or Tori suggests Twit and Twoo 😀

  12. They’ve Got the Music in the Them: RHAPSODY IN BLUE

    Their song is life
    each breath a note
    stuck in your head
    as if you wrote
    Their pain! Their joy!
    Their depth
    and hues
    They need each other:
    RHYTHM and BLUES

    Hope that helps, Pamela

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