Cindy Prost
asked
Terry Masear:
Can you suggest any discussion questions for the book? Our book club is discussing this on December 14th at our holiday book club get-together. One of our members strongly suggested your book as it was so moving and delightful. As the leader of this group, I want to make sure that I do justice to the book and help the discussion of the work.
Terry Masear
Thank you for choosing Fastest Things on Wings for your discussion. I have been giving talks at libraries, garden clubs, and birding events around the country for the past two years. The following points, described in the book, have proven the most fascinating to audiences.
1) Female hummingbirds construct their nests with spider silk, which provides unrivaled elasticity to accommodate fast-maturing chicks while keeping them tightly contained and insulated. Nesting mothers also rely on a creative mix of organic and synthetic material that includes grass, twigs, moss, bark, seed tassels, pet and human hair, downy feathers from other birds, and laundry lint from dryer vents. Since females select materials that will match the feathers of their future chicks, a nest’s species can be identified before the eggs hatch. But how can nesting females (especially first year mothers) know what color their chicks will become? Color choices may be instinctive or triggered by the iridescent hues of the males that engage in vivid and musical dive displays when courting females during the spring breeding season. Either way, the seamless blend between nests and the chicks they conceal results in flawlessly camouflaged structures that protect young hummingbirds from predators until they are strong enough to fly.
2) Nearly all hummingbird nests have two chicks: a female and a male. By two weeks of age nestlings exhibit differences in coloration on the throat and tail feathers that reveal gender differences. In over ninety percent of nests that come into rescue, the oldest chick is a female and the youngest, which typically hatches one to two days later, is a male; the remaining nests contain twin females. By hatching first, the older and more developed female holds advantages that lead to a higher chance of survival. Of all the insights gained on the front lines of hummingbird rescue, our discovery that nature has determined the oldest sibling must be female in order to maximize the species’ breeding population and ensure its survival has been the most astonishing breakthrough.
3) Wherever breeding territories overlap, hummingbird species have been known to hybridize. Marathon fliers like the rufous, which weigh three and a half grams, migrate up to seven thousand miles (round trip) from Mexico to their northern nesting grounds in Canada and Alaska. Over the past decade, however, Southern California rehabbers have noticed Allen’s females breeding with migrating rufous males that stop over to take advantage of abundant sugar feeders. Each year rescue facilities receive a growing number of young males with predominantly rust-colored feathers on their backs, which are characteristic of rufous. These striking orange juveniles, who come into rehab as fledglings, do not look like traditional Allen’s, but more closely resemble rufous in appearance and in their exceedingly pugnacious behavior. Although Allen’s migrated from the Channel Islands to the mainland in the middle of last century, few were seen in rescue until the 1990s. Since then the population has exploded so exponentially that today Allen’s and their hybrid version outnumber Anna’s, the original Southern California species, by three to one.
The unfolding phenomenon of hybridization between Allen’s and rufous in Southern California presents an opportunity to witness evolution in action, wherein two species interbreed to create a new and more adaptable variety (perhaps in response to climate and/or environmental changes).
These phenomena have gone unrecognized by scientists and bird experts as they could be discovered only by rehabbers who have received hundreds of rescued nests directly from their natural environment. Such remarkable insights make the lives of hummingbirds appear even more mysterious and complex.
But science aside, what is it about hummingbirds that speaks so powerfully to the human spirit? The book cites numerous examples of callers relating stories about hummingbirds that have descended as spirits from beyond to deliver messages of hope and love. Of course most scientists will argue such perceptions are the product of overactive imaginations. But given the limited understanding experts have of hummingbirds' biological realities, how can they possibly glean secrets that may filter through from another dimension?
In 2017, Southern California rehabbers rescued 1500 orphaned and injured hummingbirds. As Americans increasingly move to metropolitan centers and new challenges arise, we remain committed to educating residents about the importance of respect for urban wildlife and the need to preserve hummingbird populations for everyone to admire.
1) Female hummingbirds construct their nests with spider silk, which provides unrivaled elasticity to accommodate fast-maturing chicks while keeping them tightly contained and insulated. Nesting mothers also rely on a creative mix of organic and synthetic material that includes grass, twigs, moss, bark, seed tassels, pet and human hair, downy feathers from other birds, and laundry lint from dryer vents. Since females select materials that will match the feathers of their future chicks, a nest’s species can be identified before the eggs hatch. But how can nesting females (especially first year mothers) know what color their chicks will become? Color choices may be instinctive or triggered by the iridescent hues of the males that engage in vivid and musical dive displays when courting females during the spring breeding season. Either way, the seamless blend between nests and the chicks they conceal results in flawlessly camouflaged structures that protect young hummingbirds from predators until they are strong enough to fly.
2) Nearly all hummingbird nests have two chicks: a female and a male. By two weeks of age nestlings exhibit differences in coloration on the throat and tail feathers that reveal gender differences. In over ninety percent of nests that come into rescue, the oldest chick is a female and the youngest, which typically hatches one to two days later, is a male; the remaining nests contain twin females. By hatching first, the older and more developed female holds advantages that lead to a higher chance of survival. Of all the insights gained on the front lines of hummingbird rescue, our discovery that nature has determined the oldest sibling must be female in order to maximize the species’ breeding population and ensure its survival has been the most astonishing breakthrough.
3) Wherever breeding territories overlap, hummingbird species have been known to hybridize. Marathon fliers like the rufous, which weigh three and a half grams, migrate up to seven thousand miles (round trip) from Mexico to their northern nesting grounds in Canada and Alaska. Over the past decade, however, Southern California rehabbers have noticed Allen’s females breeding with migrating rufous males that stop over to take advantage of abundant sugar feeders. Each year rescue facilities receive a growing number of young males with predominantly rust-colored feathers on their backs, which are characteristic of rufous. These striking orange juveniles, who come into rehab as fledglings, do not look like traditional Allen’s, but more closely resemble rufous in appearance and in their exceedingly pugnacious behavior. Although Allen’s migrated from the Channel Islands to the mainland in the middle of last century, few were seen in rescue until the 1990s. Since then the population has exploded so exponentially that today Allen’s and their hybrid version outnumber Anna’s, the original Southern California species, by three to one.
The unfolding phenomenon of hybridization between Allen’s and rufous in Southern California presents an opportunity to witness evolution in action, wherein two species interbreed to create a new and more adaptable variety (perhaps in response to climate and/or environmental changes).
These phenomena have gone unrecognized by scientists and bird experts as they could be discovered only by rehabbers who have received hundreds of rescued nests directly from their natural environment. Such remarkable insights make the lives of hummingbirds appear even more mysterious and complex.
But science aside, what is it about hummingbirds that speaks so powerfully to the human spirit? The book cites numerous examples of callers relating stories about hummingbirds that have descended as spirits from beyond to deliver messages of hope and love. Of course most scientists will argue such perceptions are the product of overactive imaginations. But given the limited understanding experts have of hummingbirds' biological realities, how can they possibly glean secrets that may filter through from another dimension?
In 2017, Southern California rehabbers rescued 1500 orphaned and injured hummingbirds. As Americans increasingly move to metropolitan centers and new challenges arise, we remain committed to educating residents about the importance of respect for urban wildlife and the need to preserve hummingbird populations for everyone to admire.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Dec 05, 2017 07:02PM · flag