This is birdnote.

Birds are part of the complex web of nature,

and each fits into this web in its own way.

Humming birds are feathered sprites that can dart past you at high speed,

but then stop on a dime.

The bird's ability to hover lets it hang in front of a flower,

and probe with its long bill and tubular tongue,

sucking up the nectar that provides essential nourishment.

While feeding at a flower, a hummingbird gets pollen on its forehead and throat.

When it visits another flower of the same species,

it transfers the pollen to that flower.

The pollen fertilizes the plant's eggs to produce its seeds,

and the plant's reproduction is assured.

Plants can't travel about to visit one another, but pollinators can.

In return, the plants furnish that important nectar.

Humming birds are well-known pollinators, but they aren't the only ones.

These rainbow Laura keeps your hearing,

feed with their brushy tongues on the nectar of eucalyptus and other Australian plants.

Laura keeps and honey eaters in Australia, sunbirds in Africa,

hummingbirds in the Americas.

Throughout the tropics and into the temperate regions,

there are bird pollinators and plants that depend upon them.

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