Mexican Woman Converts Her Apartment into a Hummingbird Clinic
Mexico City – Catia Lattouf, a 73-year-old woman in Mexico City’s Polanco neighborhood, has turned her apartment into a makeshift clinic for sick, injured, and infant hummingbirds. Over the past decade, she has nurtured hundreds of these tiny birds back to health, becoming a reference source for bird lovers across Mexico and other parts of Latin America.
Lattouf’s passion for hummingbirds began a year after surviving colon cancer in 2011. It started with one injured hummingbird that she was encouraged to help by a veterinarian friend. She named the bird Gucci and it became her inseparable companion. Gucci perched on her computer screen while she worked and helped her overcome the sadness and loneliness she experienced after her husband’s death and her own battle with cancer.
Since then, friends and acquaintances have brought her more hummingbirds in need of care. With around 60 hummingbirds currently residing in her apartment, Lattouf and her collaborator, Cecilia Santos, work tirelessly from 5 a.m. until late at night to care for the birds.
Many of the hummingbirds come to Lattouf as babies or with broken wings after colliding with objects or falling from nests. They receive treatment and care in Lattouf’s apartment until they are strong enough to fly and feed themselves. Most are eventually released in a wooded area on the city’s southside, while the ones that don’t survive are buried near Lattouf’s building.
The demand for Lattouf’s services has increased since May when a video about her work went viral on TikTok, garnering over 1.5 million views. Even formal institutions, such as the Iztacala campus of Mexico’s National Autonomous University, occasionally refer cases to her due to a lack of resources, time, and space.
Mexico City, with its 22 species of hummingbirds, poses numerous threats to these delicate creatures. Black grackles often attack the hummingbirds and destroy their nests, while construction projects replace flower gardens with concrete. However, Lattouf remains hopeful and believes that planting more flowers will provide essential nourishment for these great pollinators.
Lattouf’s dedication to saving hummingbirds showcases her unwavering commitment to protecting and preserving nature’s delicate creatures. She believes that while God gives life and takes it away, she does everything possible to give these birds a fighting chance at survival.