National Office Bird Sanctuary

I saw it as I reached for the handle to open the heavy glass doors of the National Office, coming in to work Friday. An insignificant emerald mite, hanging at my knee level on the pebbled wall surface, just outside the entryway. I’m no expert on hummingbirds, but I’d never seen one sitting still. Normally their little wings look like ceiling fans in motion. I don’t like to get involved in other creatures’ malaise any more than you do, probably less, and I had no idea how to care for it. But I love hummingbirds, and at least thought I would kneel for a closer look.

It flew onto my head.

A cry for help, for sanctuary, I thought. Later, I realized her desperate burst of flight was aimed at my purple hair scrunchy, which she hoped to be of the nectar-containing variety.

And if that isn’t remarkable enough, within 30 seconds, Astrogirl came walking up the steps – quite possibly one of the few in the building who might have known what to do.

“Deb, do you know anything about hummingbird?” I asked her urgently. She answered in the affirmative, and I said, “Good, because there’s one on my head.”

Deb is on my Most Intriguing People list because she possesses astronomical knowledge, so to speak, on a wide span of topics, including, as it turns out, how to feed a starving hummingbird.



“It’s torpid,” she explained. “You mix one part sugar with four parts water.” I kept asking her, isn’t it going to die? It huddled listlessly on her open hand. I mixed the magic brew and she dribbled some on its beak, then gently submersed it. She assured me it would be fine, just needed to regain energy. Although clearly it would have starved to death had we not intervened. Deb knew by the tiny spots on its breast that it was probably a juvenile, perhaps inexperienced in food-gathering.

Incredibly, I could see the infinitesimal rippling of the water as its tongue (the same length as its beak) drank. We did this several times and just allowed it to rest on our hands. Like holding a cotton ball with a toothpick attached.

Deb crooned to the little thing. We watched as its eyes grew brighter.

Then, all at once, she was airborne, hovering right on the ceiling and touching the tiles with her beak. We opened the outside door, and after a few moments, she found her way out and was gone.

You might just find a torpid hummingbird sitting on your front step today. I don’t mean a bird. I mean a hurting co-worker or friend, someone who’s just used up all his or her fuel, maybe from flying around helping others.

Take a minute, give them a little sweet encouragement, let them rest on your strength. Soon they’ll fly off and leave you, recharged. It doesn’t cost much. Be a sanctuary.