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Hummingbirds Caught in a Dark World of Love Spells
Authorities are cracking down on the illegal sale of chuparosa charms.
© Greg Lavaty
Hummingbirds are celebrated for their beauty and grace, but in some places, they are trapped in a dark and deadly tradition. In parts of Mexico, hummingbirds are captured and killed to be used in love spells called chuparosa charms, a practice that has crossed borders and made its way to the United States. Conservationists are working to save these birds from this brutal fate, enforcing laws and raising awareness.
BirdNote®
Hummingbirds caught in a dark world of love spells
Written by Javier Bravo and Lucina Melesio
This is BirdNote.
[Hummingbird call]
Hummingbirds have been revered as symbols of beauty, freedom, and life for thousands of years. In ancient Mexico, Mayan rulers adorned elaborate headdresses with their image. For the Aztecs, hummingbirds embodied the power of the god Huitzilopochtli. But over the last several centuries, hummingbirds became victims of a grim ritual: love spells.
[Hummingbird call]
Today some “brujos” –who practice an eclectic kind of witchcraft– claim that carrying a hummingbird close to your heart can make someone fall in love with you. The hummingbirds are illegally trapped, killed, wrapped in red cloth with herbs, then sold as amulets called chuparosa charms. With the promise of eternal devotion, the chuparosa charms are marketed to superstitious buyers in Mexico and the United States, where they are smuggled for sale on the black market.
[Hummingbird call]
Poaching for love spells puts additional pressure on hummingbird species already struggling because of habitat loss and climate change, and authorities are cracking down. Possessing, selling, or killing a hummingbird for these rituals can lead to prison time and heavy fines.
Contrary to deadly superstitions, a hummingbird’s true magic is in the flash of wings, the glint of feathers, the impossible flight. Because once you experience a hummingbird’s beauty in real life, it’s hard not to fall in love with them!
For BirdNote, I’m Sheky Espejo.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Producer: Kizaya Studios
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Ruby-throated Hummingbird ML604314061 recorded by Trenton Voytko. Rufous Hummingbird ML457241371 recorded by Aaron Roberge. Broad-billed Hummingbird ML625380996 recorded by Alvaro Rojas 𝙌𝙧𝙤. 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨. Turquoise-crowned Hummingbird ML157625291 recorded by Jay McGowan.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2025 BirdNote October 2025
Narrator: Sheky Espejo
ID# hummingbird-12-2025-10-28 hummingbird-12
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