The ancient Mayans believed that the hummingbird was the sun in disguise. They thought that hummingbirds were created from small feathers left over from the construction of other birds.
In Puerto Rico, the story was told of a young couple, similar to Romeo and Juliet, whose families were unable to get along. One of the couple became a hummingbird and the other a red flower. That way they would always be together.
The Aztecs believed that slain warriors rose to the sky and orbited the sun for four years before returning to the earth in the form of hummingbird.

Posted by Al Batt at http://www.hometown-pages.com/main.asp?SectionID=14&SubSectionID=59&ArticleID=33391