OK, I admit that hummingbirds aren't part of the functional systems at Hummingbird Hill, although the idea of thousands of hummingbirds in frenzied electrical generation has a certain panache -- far more than the poor old hamster on its treadmill.

But they are part of the esthetic systems, as on a good day there may be hundreds of birds quarreling with each other for a perch at one of the Weingartens' several big feeders, which accommodate up to eight hummers at a time.

You can get right next to the feeder, stand or sit quite still, and find yourself eye to eye with a palmful of energy, who is far more interested in who else is on the perches than it is of you.