THE HUMMINGBIRD PHENOMENON

Hummingbirds are capable of moving up to 100 km per hour, epitomising perpetual motion. They seem to always be on the go. Even seem to always be on the go. Even when one one feeds, it frequently does so while winging it; it doesn't hoard food to eat later.

When flying, the bird's body works like a high precision race car motor pushed to the limit. The hummer's heart pulsates more than 600 times a minute; its wings beat about 75 beats per second. The bird is a model of nature's finest machinery.

For this feathered whirly bird to keep itself aloft, it must constantly eat because it rapidly burns what it consumes. The principal food for hummers is nectar, a high calorie, instant energy fuel. They flap this sugary liquid from the base of preferred flowers with their long, slender tongues.

In addition, the birds pluck small insects and spiders from flowers. Whereas nectar feeding is done to provide energy, protein comes from bugs.

Although hummingbirds take their name from noise created by their fast-moving wings, quarrelling canaries would also be appropriate. Male hummers stake out their feeding areas and chase, bluff or harpoon other males entering their domain.

Females, on the other hand, are permitted to trespass at will. Although you may frequently see fights at or near feeder in someone's backyard, rest assured the birds rarely hurt one another, even when they collide in midair and grapple in a feather-flying free fall to the ground.

Lesson to be Learned:

The world has changed from the slow, easy pace of yesterday, to the whirlwind that engulfs us today. Much like the frenetic hummingbird, we too need to be in real time, at all times. Blink and you might have missed something important.

But unlike the hummingbird, simply eating for the sake of nutrition is not enough. We also need to slow down and pace ourselves, for though what we eat matters much, what is eating us matters much more.

[Excerpted from 'Surfing the Intellect: Building Intellectual Capital in a Knowledge Economy', by Dilip Mukerjea.]