Fernando Ortiz, a renowned scientist from Quito, proposed that the name of the continent America be changed. He proposed that it be called something like "Land of the Hummingbirds" (Diario Hoy, December 1992). This name would stand for a unique characteristic of this continent: the presence of these small, agile, magical birds. Hummingbirds are found throughout the whole continent: from Alaska to "Tierra del Fuego", including the Caribbean islands. They are not found elsewhere in the world.

Hummingbirds have been ever present in the American cultures. They have been found in the impressive formations in the Nazca desert in Peru. Aztecs had a warrior god called "hitzilopochtli", a mythical being half man and half hummingbird. Peruvian Polychromic ceramics and antique tapestries depict these birds. Antique cultures that inhabited the Ecuadorian coast represented them in their figurines and ceramic stamps.
Every Native American culture had a word to name these birds: "huitzitzil" in nahuatl language, "quinde" in quichua, "guanumbi" in guarani, etc. In Andean America, hummingbirds are commonly called "quindes". The biggest number of species is found in the humid forests of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Ecuador and Colombia have the world record with more than 130 species each.

To cite an example based in field studies, 20 species coexist in the Yanacocha cloud forests close to Quito, on the Northwest side of the Pichincha volcano. Of these twenty species, 18 can be found simultaneously at the same altitude.

In order for various hummingbird species to coexist, the abundance of epiphyte or parasite plants is vital. These plants seem to be "tailor-made" for the hummingbirds’ beaks. Such is the case of many bromeliads in the montane forests on the slopes of the Andes.

In order to feed from the flowers’ nectar, hummingbirds have developed a unique locomotion system, comparable only with that of insects: vibratory flight. This type of flight allows the birds to be suspended in the air in front of a flower, and also fly backwards and switch flying speed as desired. The smallest hummingbirds can move their wings at about 80 wing cycles per second. A hummingbird flies at about 200 times its length per second!

The cloud forests in the Northwest of the Pichincha Province, only 1-2 hours North of Quito, are the perfect spot for birdwatchers, especially those interested in hummingbirds. These lively and colorful birds are also a common sight in gardens in the midst of the busy city of Quito and all throughout the Ecuadorian Andes. Thus, the Quito Tourism Corporation has adopted this bird as its symbol.

Hummingbirds are an important part of Quito’s cultural ancestry, as well as that of all America: a "Land of Hummingbirds".

Information & photo source:
Ortiz, Fernando. 2003. Colibries. Quito, Imprenta Mariscal.

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