Netherland Antilles 10 gulden, 2006 (P#28d)

Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12–80 times per second (depending on the species). To conserve energy while they sleep or when food is scarce, they have the ability to go into a hibernation-like state (torpor) where their metabolic rate is slowed to 1/15th of its normal rate. They are also the only group of birds with the ability to fly backwards. Their English name derives from the humming sound made by the very fast beating of their wings. They can fly at speeds exceeding 15 m/s. 

Aztecs wore hummingbird talismans, the talismans being representations as well as actual hummingbird fetishes formed from parts of real hummingbirds: emblematic for their vigor, energy, and propensity to do work along with their sharp beaks that mimic instruments of weaponry, bloodletting, penetration, and intimacy. Hummingbird talismans were prized as drawing sexual potency, energy, vigor, and skill at arms and warfare to the wearer. 

*Aerial photograph of hummingbird image as part of Nazca Lines in Peru The Aztec god Huitzilopochtli is often depicted as a hummingbird. The Nahuatl word huitzil (hummingbird) is an onomatopoeic word derived from the sounds of the hummingbird's wing-beats and zooming flight. 

* One of the Nazca Lines depicts a hummingbird. 

* The Ohlone tells the story of how Hummingbird brought fire to the world. 

* Trinidad and Tobago is known as "The land of the hummingbird," and a hummingbird can be seen on that nation's coat of arms and 1-cent coin as well as its national airline, Caribbean Airlines. 

* Chrysler's gear-reduction starter motor used from the early 1960s to the late 1980s was nicknamed the "Highland Park Hummingbird" after Chrysler's hometown and the starter's distinctive cranking sound.