Injured Baby Hummingbirds Safely Land with Tropic Air For Some TLC at Belize Bird Rescue

Just last week, Jeff of Cayo Frances Farm and Fly* and his friend Mike, part-time Ambergris Caye resident, found two unexpected visitors near their front door step at their rental at Barrier Reef Resort (formerly Reef Village) on Ambergris Caye.

It was especially strange since just the week before, the two had fished a hummingbird from the lagoon after watching it fall in.

That one quickly recovered but these two baby rufous hummingbirds…

Oh wait one second…I forgot to tell you, I am HOME!  Home sweet home Belize.  It was an epic sleepless trip (who knew that it’s daylight the WHOLE way back?) but jet lag, I can only hope, is beginning to wane and Belize is looking GORGEOUS.

The Tropic Air flight on Tuesday back to my caye.

And the view at Estel’s yesterday just before breakfast.

Let’s continue.  Mike and Jeff scooped up the two injured birds – both had missing feathers on their tiny wings and put them in a little shelter on the back patio.

The birds responded well to sugar water, lapping the liquid off a flower bud with their long tongues.

And, sadly, their mom came to visit, feeding them as well.  Hummingbirds, it seems, cannot live on sugar alone – they need protein from insects.

Would these birds get better?  Would they fly again?  Nikki, bird specialist and owner of the AMAZING Belize Bird Rescue just outside of Belmopan was called in.  Check them out, I visited a few years ago.

She suggested that it might take months for the birds to regrow their feather AND that the mother would exhaust herself visiting her kids.  Nikki would be able to care of them at her bird sanctuary.  AND she would drive to Belize City to pick them up.

It was time to ask for a favor from my friends at Tropic Air Belize.  We were going to need someone to hold the feather weight cargo and deliver it to Nikki at Belize City Municipal Airport.  They instantly agreed…

Now, a carrier for Kibbles and Bits…

Proper labeling always a necessity – even when the package is hand delivered.

Foster Dad Mike mixed some sugar and water from the Tropic Air coffee area to send his kids off with a full stomach.

Tropic Air had an employee bring the birds over and hand them off to Nikki.

And other Tropic Air employees?  They’ve got jokes.

Kibbles and Bits are safe in Belmopan this morning getting the proper care they need.  And hopefully, in a few months, they will regrow new wing feathers and be off on their own.

The hand-off to Nikki.

Good luck guys!  Thanks so much to Tropic Air for giving these little guys free and safe transport to their new home.

And one must wonder…will make their way back to Papas Jeff and Mike?  Amazing fact:  “Rufous Hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) are amazing because of the great distance they migrate from their wintering grounds in Mexico and the southern United States to their breeding grounds in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, western Canada, and southern Alaska.”

*Here is the card from Jeff’s new business…not open yet but stay tuned…