About the Bird: A small, feisty flyer, the Allen’s Hummingbird nests mostly in California, where it’s adapted fairly well to suburban parks and gardens. If global temperatures rise to 3 degrees Celsius, however, the hummingbird could lose 64 percent of its summer range and 94 percent of its winter range, much of it in Mexico. Threats such as fire weather, which incinerate habitat; spring heat waves, which endanger nestlings; and urbanization could also threaten its survival.
About the Artist: Socky, born Joshua Goody Garcia, is a Brooklyn native and artist inspired by dreams of American Folk Art, Jesus, and Elvis. A silk screen printer by profession, Socky explores his art through drawing, acrylic painting, and wood carving. He was drawn to the Allen Hummingbird’s aerial acrobatics. “The courtship flight of the male Allen’s Hummingbird is a frantic back-and-forth flight arc of about 25 feet, similar to the motion of a swinging pendulum,” he says, “followed by a high-speed dive from about 100 feet.”