Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Among the many species of hummingbirds found in Costa Rica, one of the most common is the Rufous-tailed Hummingbird. During nesting, a female may catch up to 2,000 insects in a single day to feed her young, but flower nectar makes up her primary food source. Like many others of its kind, the male will defend flowers within the territory it has established, chasing away other hummingbirds and even bumblebees and other large insects it thinks may feed on “his” flowers.

But this is really more about the flower that makes the picture. Heliconias come in a wide variety of species, of which 194 are native to the tropical Americas. Although bats are known to pollinate at least one species in the family, the majority are pollinated only by hummingbirds. It’s a commensal relationship where both the hummingbird and the flower benefit from their association with the other.

And that’s exactly how God created the church, to work together in the same way the subjects in the picture relate to each other. “God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful!” (1Corinthians 12:5-8 MSG) If we worked together as God intended us to, think what a wonderful picture that would make.