Anna’s Hummingbird by Jeff Black
Hummingbirds demand superlatives. Exceptionally tiny when at rest—the slightest species measuring just 2¼ inches—they are nevertheless unmissable in flight, clothed in sun-catching grandeur. Like dwarf stars of compressed energy, their nectar-fueled hearts prime them for bursts of 80 wingbeats a second, and for annual round-trip migrations of up to 5,400 miles.
The hummingbird's abundant fascinations have earned them a prominent but under-examined place in cultural history, and that is the subject of Naval Academy professor Noah Comet’s presentation. Reaching back to the pre-Colombian Americas—particularly to the Aztec’s chief god, Huītzilōpōchtli, who was named for and often figured as a hummingbird, and forward, via WWII to the present day, Comet will explain how the bird evolved from a bloodthirsty deity into a transatlantic metaphor and commodity.
Noah Comet holds graduate degrees from NYU and UCLA, and is a professor of English at the United States Naval Academy. He is also a certified State of Maryland Master Naturalist, an avid outdoorsman, and a nature writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Denver Post, the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun. A native of northeastern Ohio, he traces his love of birds to (among other things) a surprise encounter with a Barred Owl in Cleveland, who landed on a branch just inches from his head and shared several minutes with him in silent, mutual curiosity. Since then, Comet has made it one of his life goals to see all of America’s owl species; he’s more than halfway there.
This is a free public program.
May 23, 6:30-8:00 pm at Boise Library! Cole and Ustick, 7557 W Ustick
No registration required
Contact Liz for more information