The Real Deal

Amazing photos have baffled people all over the world.

As told by Abigail Alfano, Covington, Louisiana
Story written by Stacy Tornio, Managing Editor

Hi. I'm Abigail. Many people know me as "The Hummingbird Lady." I'm the woman pictured hand-feeding hummingbirds in my pajamas.

Photos of me were part of a massive E-mail chain. I've heard from people all over the world who've asked about the photos and questioned their validity. Well, I'm here to tell you that they are 100% real. My husband, Sam, is a great photographer, and he did not do anything to alter the photos.

But I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit. First, let me tell you how this whole thing started.

Two years ago, when we were living in Pine, Louisiana, I was drinking my coffee and watching the hummingbirds feed from our sugar-water feeder. I did this every morning and loved watching the traffic at the feeders increase around migration time.

On this particular morning, I looked over to my husband and said, "Oh, I wish I could hold one of those hummingbirds."

He replied, "Why don't you go out and try?"

So I went outside, held the hummingbird feeder and stood as still as possible. The birds swarmed around me, feeding at the sugar-water feeder but not daring to land on me. I did this for a few days so they could get used to having me around.

Next, I removed the feeder and mounted a red cap filled with sugar water on an old milk jug. It didn't take the hummingbirds long to find the new food source, and soon they were buzzing around it, too.

Then came the day when Sam took these legendary photos. It was a typical morning with hummingbirds swooping around our backyard. I saw the buzz of activity, so I grabbed my cowboy boots and headed outside. I took the red cap the birds had been feeding from and put it in my palm.

The next few minutes took my breath away. Hummingbirds were flying around me at every angle and even landing on my hand to feed! They were light as a feather and amazing to watch at such a close distance. Sam snapped away with his camera, getting 50 or more photos of the moment.

Afterward, Sam picked his favorite four or five photos and E-mailed them to about six people. Within a month, I started hearing from friends, saying that they had received an E-mail with my pictures in it!

From then on, the photos traveled like wildfire. One woman in Lexington, Kentucky even passed one of the photos off as her own for a local photo contest. We learned our lesson from that, and Sam has since branded the photos with our name.

It has been 2 years since we took those photos, but we know the E-mail chain is still circulating all over the world. I get E-mails from people nearly every day!

I am by no means a hummingbird expert, but I do offer a few tips for people who ask me about how to hand-feed. I tell them that it just takes a lot of patience and a little luck.

When I'm not watching birds, you'll likely find me singing. I'm in a musical group with two other guys, and we play a lot of acoustic soft rock and country at local places on the weekend.

Sam still does a lot of photography, and I love seeing what he comes up with. It's amazing to think that my love of hummingbirds and his love of photography started this whole thing.

I suppose people will always know me as "The Hummingbird Lady," and that's okay with me!