A Hummingbird Named Bob

a warm story for a winter’s day

(Not Bob, but this is Purple Floyd who often visits the feeder outside of my office window in warm and sunny Tucson Arizona. He keeps me company when I’m writing. )

Mine is one of the dwindling number of households that still gets a local paper paper delivered to my home. It’s no longer published in my town and over the years as more people get their news digitally, the paper has thinned to a few skinny sections. Local news (a day or two behind), Sports ( I toss this aside), Comics/Puzzles/Heloise (I do the Jumble) and National /World News (Blah) I want to stay informed, but it seems that each day brings a new set of issues that disturb and confuse me. I feel overwhelmed and helpless.

One morning, I couldn’t face the bad news and almost tossed the paper into the recycling bin. But there, taking center stage on the front page was a picture of a humminbird with the caption “Costa’s hummingbird set free after rescue, long road trip.” (Arizona Daily Star, Sunday, November 30, 2025) Oh, how I needed a story with a happy ending! I grabbed a cup of tea and settled in for a good read.

According to the article, Jennifer Munson in Lincoln Nebraska, found an unusual hummingbird at her feeder in early October. She snapped a picture and an agent from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission identified the bird as a juvenile Costa’s hummingbird who’d ended up more than 1,000 miles from its usual range. The bird stayed in Jennifer’s yard for weeks, and she and her husband named him Bob, after the sportscaster Bob Costa.

Bob was content to hang out in Jennifer’s yard greeting her each morning with song and buzzing around her when she refilled the feeder, but she was worried. How was a hummingbird from the southwest going to survive Nebraska’s harsh winter? Already the late autumn flowers were gone and nectar was freezing in the feeders.

As temperatures plummeted, Bob showed signs of distress. Jennifer had no idea how he’d gotten so far from his home, but she realized the only way to save him was to get him back where he belonged. Somehow Jennifer was able to capture Bob and bring him in from the cold. She contacted the Nebraska Wildlife Rehab director Laura Stastny, who then called the Southern Arizona Hummingbird Rescue Hotline.

And that’s how Bob, the wayward hummingbird found himself on a road trip. As Laura left Nebraska and headed towards the southwest, Bob was alert and lively in his carrier, becoming more vocal when they crossed into New Mexico. Eventually he arrived at the home of a Tucson bird rehabilitator near Saguaro National Park East where he spent a few days to acclimate. When he was pronounced fit to go, the door on his aviary was opened and Bob zipped away towards the open desert. Hopefully his wanderings will keep him closer to home this time.

Back in Nebraska, Jennifer was delighted when she received the news and became emotional when she saw video clips of Bob’s release. In a letter addressed “to those who helped save Bob Costa’s” in the same edition of the Daily Star, Jennifer said “I am forever indebted to you for taking care of my tiny friend and saving my spirit at the same time.”

It took an enormous effort involving many people and thousands of miles to save such a tiny life when there are certainly much more serious matters that need our attention. And yet, maybe all each of us can do right now is do something that is in our reach. Step in somewhere to make a difference where we can, no matter how small.

Even if only to save our spirit.

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