by Connie Sidles

With their ability to hover in place, fly upside-down or backwards, and cross seas without stopping, hummingbirds seem immune to the ordinary laws of physics. Their jewel-tone feathers flash in the sun brighter than rubies or emeralds. Their wings flap faster than the eye can see. Their courtship flights defy gravity. These tiny dynamos of the avian world both fascinate and flummox us. Find out more about one of the fiercest birds in the animal kingdom, as master birder Connie Sidles shows you the wonders of hummingbirds.

Connie Sidles is a master birder and long-time member of Birds Connect Seattle, where she served on the board and is chair of the Publications Committee. She currently serves on the Conservation Committee. Connie is on the faculty of the University of Washington as an instructor in continuing education programs. She teaches classes for BCS, as well as many other Audubon societies across the country. Connie is a published author with more than 600 published articles and is founder and president of Constancy Press. She has written four books about nature, focusing on her favorite “backyard” Montlake Fill, aka Union Bay Natural Area on the UW’s campus. She is excited to be back with Rainier Audubon to share her love of birds with one of the most enthusiastic groups of birders she knows. “I feel like I’m coming to my home away from home,” she says.