Photos, video and article by T.A. Niles
The Mimbres Culture Heritage Site held the first day of its annual Hummingbird Festival on Saturday, July 29 and also hosted the final day Sunday, July 30, from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, at 12 Sage Drive in Mimbres. If you have never held a delicate hummingbird in your hands or heard its humming right next to your ear, being on hand was an excellent opportunity for you to cuddle a hummingbird and hear its rapid heartbeat up close.
With University of New Mexico Albuquerque experts Drs. Blair Wolf and Bill Talbot, along with undergraduate student Jason Kitting on hand to share their knowledge, and guide attendees in handling the delicate and universally adored hummingbirds, many festival goers took advantage of the opportunity to release banded hummingbirds into the brilliant Mimbres, New Mexico sky.
In addition to the thrill of seeing and handling the hummingbirds, attendees delved into a variety of nature topics and activities, including lectures about the birds and plants, tours, live music, arts and crafts vendors, children's activities, and always a crowd favorite, ice cream!
Festival visitors came from a variety of New Mexico locations, and Sandy Cruz of Las Cruces said that she found out about the festival from a flyer. Her face lit up in delight as she held and released a hummingbird for the first time. Although Dr. Wolf is a professor of biology at UNM, he is a Mimbres Valley resident, and he flitted about the grounds like a hummingbird himself, educating and facilitating hummingbird experiences for the young and not-so-young attendees.
Kitting, who refers to himself as a "bird nerd," and Talbot, who recently completed his PhD in physiological ecology at age 78 (phenomenal, right?), and studies birds and bats, manned the banding table and enthralled the considerable crowd. Kitter and Talbot banded the tiny hummers, and answered questions as they worked. It was evident that those tiny-winged creatures are hardier than they appear.
The Mimbres Culture Heritage Site is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a National Historic Register archaeological site. All funds raised by the festival raffle will go toward the organization's various activities, including the maintenance of one of the world's premier museums for the preservations of Mimbres culture, so come visit when you can.