Rebecca McMackin
speaker
328 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard May 2025
last heard 2d ago
Rebecca McMackin’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.
Appearances
Their red flower heralds the return of the ruby-throated hummingbird, the East Coast's only hummingbird.
After these tiny birds have flown thousands of miles on their migration from Central America to the Northeast, they rely on the sugary nectar of the columbine to refuel, and they have reason to believe that this flower will be waiting for them when they do.
The columbine stores their nectar at the end of long spurs, where only the long tongues of the hummingbird can reach it.
As the bird drinks the nectar, they pollinate the flower.
Both organisms are benefiting here, and in fact, the ruby-throated hummingbird is the eastern red columbine's pollinator partner.
The bird and the flower could not be more charming, but it's the dynamics between the two where the real magic resides.
Let me explain.
Birds have an extra photoreceptor that allows them to see red incredibly well.
Flowers have taken advantage of this and use the color red to communicate.
As the hummingbirds fly over land on their journey, a wave of red flowers blooms to greet them.
This beautiful dance of symbiosis is happening all around us, among plants and animals that have evolved together for thousands, if not millions of years.
In return for planting native plants, we get a front-row seat to the wonders of the natural world.
It's hard work, but it's the best kind because at the end of our efforts, not only do we get biodiversity, but we get butterflies.
When butterflies visit flowers, they're there for a quick drink of nectar.
But if we want to support their full life cycle, we need to provide them with food when they are very hungry caterpillars.
Caterpillars eat leaves, but they can't just eat any leaf.
They need the leaves they have evolved to digest.
Monarchs and milkweed are the most famous duo, but every butterfly and moth has a plant or even a few that they lay their eggs on.
These are their host plants.
At Brooklyn Bridge Park a while ago, I saw American lady butterflies visiting our flowers.
Showing 261–280 of 328 · page 14 of 17
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