Catching a glimpse of a tiny, colorful hummingbird, the world’s tiniest migrating bird, is a breathtaking natural sight.
Hummingbirds are beautiful, lovely birds that are often brightly colored. They’re amazing creatures with many admirable features.
The hummingbird’s beauty has inspired poets, artists, and storytellers throughout history. Seeing a hummingbird resting in place or zipping through the sky has a special charm. They represent inspiration and hope on a spiritual level.
Keep reading to enjoy hummingbird quotes that will truly inspire you.
Facts About Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are limited to the New World, with South America having the greatest diversity and number of species. With nearly 300 species, they are the second-largest bird family in South America.
Their name comes from the humming noise their wings make as they flap so fast. Hummingbirds have tiny, blade-like wings and compact, well-muscled bodies.
They’re the tiniest birds on the planet. A hummingbird’s average weight is less than a coin.
Besides, hummingbirds are the only vertebrae capable of hovering for extended periods of time while in flight. They can fly in all directions, including backward, forwards, and even upside down.
They also have the potential to fly nonstop for nearly 2000 kilometers (1243 miles). Some travel at 30 mph to get to their destination on time. Birds can take up to 533 hours to reach their target at this speed.
On top of that, hummingbirds have a short lifespan (3-5 years) due to their small size and strong metabolism; however, their lifespan is unpredictable, and some have lived for more than a decade.
60 Hummingbird Quotes
“Hummingbird was by far and away from our worst result.” – Glenn Munsie.
“Like the hummingbird sipping nectar from every flower, I fly joyfully through my days, seeing beauty in everything.”– Amethyst Wyldfyre.
“The hummingbird competes with the stillness of the air.”– Chogyam Trungpa.
“May my faith always be at the end of the day like a hummingbird returning to its favorite flower.” – Sanober Khan.
“Quick as a hummingbird, she darts so eagerly, swiftly, sweetly—dipping into the flowers of my heart.” – James Oppenheim.
“I always loved those little creatures [hummingbirds]; always feel blessed when they appear nearby. There’s a magical quality to them. I finally put one in a song.” – Leonard Cohen.
“Across the downs, a Hummingbird Came dipping through the bowers; He pivoted on emptiness To scrutinize the flowers.” – Nathalia Crane.
“I hear like you see – like that hummingbird outside that window, for instance.” – Ray Charles.
“A flash of harmless lightning, A mist of rainbow dyes, The burnished sunbeams brightening From flower to flower he flies.” – John Banister Tabb
“As long as the hummingbird had not abandoned the land, somewhere there were still flowers, and they still go on.” – Leslie Marmon Silko.
“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” – Rumi
“The rest, around 80% of people, are hummingbirds. Some hummingbirds are more larkish, some more owlish, and some are in between.” – John Medina.
“In Mexico, people wear hummingbird amulets around their necks to show they are searching for love. Here people pretend that they aren’t. Searching.” – Francesca Lia Block
“Some of my old memories feel trapped in amber in my brain, lucid and burning, while others are like the wing beat of a hummingbird, an intangible, ephemeral blur.” – Mira Bartok.
“Life has its own hidden forces which you can only discover by living.” – Soren Kierkegaard.
“Charm is the enchanted dart, light and subtle as a hummingbird. But it is deceptive in one thing: as a sense of humor, if you think you’ve got it, you probably haven’t.” – Laurel Lea.
“I love devastating movies, documentaries, and hummingbirds (yes, in that order).” – Tig Notaro.
“My mother’s eyes were large and brown, like my son’s, but unlike Sam’s, they were always frantic, like a hummingbird who can’t quite find the flower but keeps jabbing around.” – Anne Lamott.
“She spoke quickly, her tongue feeling like a hummingbird’s wing; she was so afraid of boring him if she took too long.” ― Shannon Hale.
“A day so happy. The fog lifted early. I worked in the garden. Hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers. There was nothing on earth I wanted to possess. I know no one worth envying him.” – Czesław Miłosz
“I’m going to get a job; I’m broke. Right now, I couldn’t buy spats for a hummingbird.”– Robert Blake.
“Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity I’ve met as a result of Downton Abbey.” – Lesley Nicol.
“You tormented a hummingbird of love between your teeth.” – Federico García Lorca.
“Hummingbird stays for a fractional sharp sweetness, and’s gone, can’t take more than that.”– Denise Levertov.
“Fashion is so rich, and it is an amazing occupation because we can draw on so many different sources of inspiration—just as a hummingbird feeds on a multitude of flowers.” – Dries Van Noten.
“If I were a flower, the hummingbird would be my favorite bee; and if I were blind, the light of darkness I’d love to see.” – Munia Khan.
“Some people never find the right kind of love. You know, the kind that steals your breath away, like diving into snow melt. The kind that jolts your heart, sets it beating apace, an anxious hiccuping of hummingbird wings.” – Ellen Hopkins
“A rhododendron bud lavender-tipped. Soon, glory blooms to clash with the cardinals and gladden the hummingbirds!” – Dave Beard
“And the hummingbird that hung like a jewel up among the tilted honeysuckle horns. They mesmerized and swung in the palpitating air, drowsed with odors strange and rare. And with whispered laughter, slipped away and let him hang there.” – James Whitcomb Riley
“Hummingbird is the spirit of pure joy! She is the messenger of beauty and wonder, and she reminds us to taste the sweet nectar of life.”– Anonymous
“My work is to love the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird – equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.”- Mary Oliver
“I’d like to be like a hummingbird. You see them every now and then. You don’t see them everywhere.” – Shailene Woodley
“Hummingbird brings the gift of joy. Learn to laugh and be happy.” – Anonymous
“Hummingbirds that defend territories of many flowers remember which flowers they have recently emptied.” – Susan Healy
“Flutter like a hummingbird, dive like an eagle, ain’t no bird that’s my equal.” – Twilight Kathryn Lasky
“Some of our memories are like hummingbirds—light and indistinctive.” – Anonymous
“The daily hummingbird assaults existence with improbability.” – Ursula K. Le Guin
“I had the metabolism of a hummingbird on crack.” – Ilona Andrews
“Most elegantly finished in all parts, the hummingbird is a miniature work of our Great Parent, who seems to have formed it the smallest, and at the same time the most beautiful of the winged species.” – J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur
“Wings are of many kinds. Butterfly’s wings, vulture’s wings, eagle-wings, spread wings of white swans, dragonfly’s serene wings, wings of albatross, lovely wings of hummingbirds, tiny wings of a fly, or a bumble-bee-wings; and when they fly, they fly their best according to their ability of flying. We should not underestimate the size of those heavenly wings.” – Munia Khan
“The hummingbird realized that this was a psychological tightrope that he had to navigate carefully, so he did it sideways because this was the only way he could move when perched.” – J.S. Mason
“Hummingbird teaches us to transcend time, to recognize that what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future is not nearly as important as what we are experiencing now. It teaches us to hover in the moment, to appreciate its sweetness.” – Constance Barrett Sohodski
“They always mean beautiful things like hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child in east Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm can’t live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent creator.” – David Attenborough
“He was becoming unstuck, he was sure of that. His bones were no longer wrapped in flesh but in clouds of dust, in hummingbirds, dragonflies, and luminous moths, but so perfect was his equilibrium that he felt no fear. He was vast, he was many, he was dynamic, he was eternal.” – Tom Robbins
“Hummingbirds are so light and fast that they can compete with the air.” – Anonymous
“Time passes as fast as a hummingbird flutters.” – Unknown
“Hummingbird: With brave wings, she flies.” – Unknown
“Furious flutter awakened hummingbird heart, hello, hello, love.” – Meghan McCafferty
“Even a hummingbird couldn’t catch Tyler at work.” – Fight Club
“He has the attention span of a hummingbird.” – Christopher Moore
“I would say the hummingbird really deserves the royalties on some of my songs.” – Leonard Cohen
“I’m more of a culture hummingbird.” – Jai Rodriguez
“He wasn’t that good looking, he had the social skills of a wet cat, and the patience of a caffeinated hummingbird.” – Karen Chance
“There is no easy way to bathe a hummingbird.” – Kehlog Albran
“When you are convinced that all the exits are blocked, either you take in believing in miracles or you stand still the hummingbird.” – Henry Miller
“Calliope feathers on the wings of my hopes and my dreams, to some day fly high in the lavender sky. A warm wind caresses my face, and my heart overflows with grace. The dawn breaks to herald a dazzling new day, as I hover, zip, zoom the hummingbird way.” – Sherri Lynea Gerek
“Dancing is such a despised and dishonored trade that if you tell a doctor or a lawyer you do choreography he’ll look at you as if you were a hummingbird. Dancers don’t get invited to visit people. It is assumed a boy dancer will run off with the spoons and a girl with the head of the house.” – Agnes de Mille
“People of different types can’t be friends, so do birds.” – Anonymous
“You are Mr. Owl. I am Ms. Hummingbird. We may have come from different species, but as long as you’re a bird, I’m a bird too.” – Glad Munaiseche
“There’s two types of birds. There’s vultures, and there’s hummingbirds. One lives off dead carcasses, rotting meat. The other lives off the beautiful, sweet, nectar in a particular flower, on a particular desert plant, in the same desert. They both find what they’re looking for.” – Brian Houston
Conclusion
There you have it! That completes our list of the top 60 hummingbird quotes we think about when bird watching hummingbirds. We hope you enjoyed them.
FAQ
To some, the appearance of a hummingbird symbolizes intelligence, beauty, devotion, and love. To others, it represents the absolute joy of nature.
What is the legend of the hummingbird?
In Mayan culture the hummingbird represent the sun in their legends and stories.
Quoting National Geographic:
“Most birds produce substantial upward force—aka lift force—only with the downward flap of their wings. The secret to the hummingbird’s hovering ability lies in the near symmetry of its wing motion, which allows it to produce lift during the upstroke as well as the downstroke.”
