A Woman on a Mission to Photograph Every Species of Hummingbird

Summary

Seven years ago, anesthesiologist and budding photographer Carole Turek embarked on a seemingly impossible quest to photograph every hummingbird species in the world—all 366 of them. Now 75 years old and entering retirement, Turek has just 90 species left on her list. And what began as a personal obsession has garnered the attention and praise of researchers, conservationists, and legions of fans through her popular YouTube channel and website, Hummingbird Spot. Turek developed an early affection for birds as a child, sparked by the chatter of pet parakeets that filled her family’s home in the Philadelphia suburbs. But it wasn’t until she was in her 30s, after completing an anesthesiology residency and moving to Colorado, that wild birds grabbed her attention. One afternoon, while Turek dined on a restaurant patio, a flash of iridescence caught her eye. Sipping from the blossoms of a hanging flower basket was Turek’s first hummingbird—possibly a Broad-tailed, but she lacked the expertise to identify it then. She watched, spellbound, until the bird zipped out of sight. “I was fascinated with it,” she says. After that initial encounter, Turek was hooked. When she moved to Los Angeles in 1987, she was delighted to find hummingbirds visiting the plants on her property and decided to hang a feeder of her own. Anna’s and Allen’s Hummingbirds were two of the most frequent diners, shining brilliant shades of green, pink, and orange. As more hummers arrived, she put out more food. “I hung another feeder, and that turned into four, then six, until I had hummingbird feeders all over the house,” she says. “I would sit by the window and wait for them to come.” Things really got out of hand when she eventually settled into her home in Studio City. There, her flowers and 16 feeders overlooked Laurel Canyon from a third-floor balcony, offering an irresistible buffet for every passing hummer. Depending on the season, she went through 50 to 90 pounds of sugar per week to keep the fee...