They are known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings which flap at high frequencies. They hover in mid-air at rapid wing-flapping rates sometimes in excess of 80 wing beats per minute.
In Hopi and Zuni culture, there is a hummingbird myth about a young brother and sister who are starving because drought and famine have come to the land. Their parents have left to find food, so the boy carves a piece of wood into a small bird to entertain his sister. When the girl tosses the carving into the air, the bird comes to life, turning into a hummingbird. The small bird then flies to the God of Fertility and begs for rain, and the god obliges the request, which helps the crops to grow again
