Green-crowned brilliant hummingbird with giant thistle, Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica
© adrian hepworth/Alamy
Pollinator Week - Spread the pollen
It's Pollinator Week, celebrating the small heroes who help plants flourish. While some plants are self-pollinating, or pollinated by wind or water, most are fertilized with the help of bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, birds—like the green-crowned brilliant hummingbird in today's image—and bats. The non-profit organization Pollinator Partnership is behind the event, which aims to raise awareness about how we can help protect them from threats including habitat loss, pollution, pesticides, and climate change. Should we care? Absolutely! From fruits and veggies to nuts, chocolate, or sugarcane, there are plenty of ingredients in our diet that are brought to us by pollinators, which are a crucial part of our agriculture and ecosystems.