The only time I've ever held a hummingbird was just after one of my cats caught one too. When I saw her with a hummingbird in her mouth, I yelled at her. . . she knows she isn't supposed to catch birds, so she dropped it. I thought it was dead because it didn't move. I picked it up to inspect what had happened and the little hummingbird decided it was a good time to fly away. I always wondered though if it could survive after being in a cat's mouth. This gives me hope.