For the last week or so I’ve been photographing hummingbirds in my yard almost exclusively – mostly female and juvenile Black-chinned Hummingbirds. I’ve been alternating between shooting them at the trumpet vine on the side of my house and the canna lilies in my garden.
The light is often marginal at both locations so very often I don’t have enough shutter speed to freeze their wings, but I can live with that as long as most of the rest of the bird is acceptably sharp.
Of course I enjoy the flowers in my photos too but sometimes I grow a little weary of all the bright colors so…
I appreciate getting a shot like this once in a awhile. I like the little splash of greenish iridescence at the top of her head.
This hummer worked this flower over for a long time so I figured she was getting a lot of nectar from it.
But it wasn’t easy to get to. Sometimes almost half of her, including her long bill, disappeared inside the flower.
But the proof is in the pudding. Several times when she backed out there were drops of nectar at or near the end of her bill. Which makes one wonder, how much nectar do they actually consume? And how do they deal with all the urine it would produce?
This hummer was feeding on my canna lilies rather than my trumpet vine. When she backed out she realized that her tanks were full so she…
dumped a load before going back for more.
Then yesterday morning I captured another hummer peeing. These droplets look brown but that’s only because of colors reflected from the setting. They’re actually perfectly clear.
- Flower nectar averages 20% to 25% sugar. Almost all of the rest is water with only trace amounts of amino acids, proteins, lipids and minerals.
- In order to fuel their sky-high metabolic rate, hummingbirds need to suck down about 80 percent of their body weight in nectar each day. That’s the equivalent of a 150-pound person drinking nearly a hundred 20-ounce Cokes daily—and nectar is often much sweeter than soda.
- So hummingbirds have to get rid of a LOT of water during daytime (without losing electrolytes – their kidneys are adapted to recapturing them before they’re excreted). Hummer urine is up to 99.5% pure water – essentially distilled water.
- But if hummers kept producing dilute urine overnight, they would die of dehydration before morning. To avoid that they shut down their kidneys overnight. To quote ecophysiologist Carlos Martinez del Rio of the University of Wyoming “they go into what, in a human, would be considered acute renal failure. Hummingbirds have to do this, or they would piss themselves to death.”
I know of a 79-year-old bird photographer with an enlarged prostate who is insanely jealous of the ability of hummers to shut down their kidneys during nighttime, which for him would make those highly inconvenient and annoying nocturnal trips to the bathroom unnecessary.
If only…
Ron
Postscript:
Yesterday, after taking some of these photos of hummers at my trumpet vine, I forgot to return the chair I’d been sitting on from my dilapidated old wooden deck to its normal home on my patio.
Last evening, after mixing a pre-dinner drink, I prepared to enjoy it on my patio. I opened my back door and before I even took my first step outside I looked to my right and saw…
Hannibal the Cooper’s Hawk looking back at me from the back of my chair only 10′ away. I had one of my cameras with a small lens handy so I took a few photos while standing in my doorway.
And of course, he had to shit on my chair before he took off.
Thanks for sharing the elimination habits of your bird friends!!! 😃
HANNIBAL! Good to see him <3 And thank you for educating me on something I had never considered before — hummingbird piss… I learn something new every time I read this blog! ^^
“I learn something new every time I read this blog!”
Good to know, Evelyn. Thanks.
Enjoyed your post. 😊
Good.
Love everything about this post, especially the pre-dinner cocktail😁
Thanks, Diana. I’m about to mix one for tonight too. Maybe it’ll make Hannibal show up again… 🙂
Haha! Just mixed myself a vodka tonic with 2 slices of lime …Cheers Ron
Great shots!
Yes they urinate a lot. There is mostly fluid but a small solid called a boatman. The urine is still sticky. We have to change the paper towels or towel daily, if the bird is sitting on the bottom of caging the bird can get stick from waste.
Looks like your trumpet vine recovered nicely. Mine is still struggling. I need to get out and try for a few shots, by the time I have light in my yard it’s too hot! I have lost both my peach tree and cherry tree to bores so my shade is mostly gone.
I’m curious, April. What do you feed to your hummer patients that provides them protein?
Eventually my trumpet vine came back, big time, after the late heavy frost but I was sure worried about it for a while. I think it now has more flowers than it’s ever had. And the hummers sure like it.
We use an expensive formula made for hummingbirds in captivity. Nektar-Plus, a powdered formula you mix with water, it’s nutritiously balanced. We call it liquid gold, it’s very expensive, you have to change it every 2-4 hours depending on the temperature.
Yes, with protein in it I imagine it could go bad quickly. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.
I looked it up and I see what you mean about “expensive”. $70 for just over 5 oz.
Well, you’ve outdone yourself with another humm-dinger of a post! Gorgeous photos of these fabulous little birds and what a trove of unexpected and fascinating information …. I knew hummers go into torpor overnight to save energy, but the fact that they can shut down their kidneys is beyond amazing! Nature’s adaptations never cease to surprise and delight. (But honestly, Hummingbird Pee Water is not going to be on my grocery list anytime soon ….)
So happy Hannibal made another appearance. I confess I was a tad worried when I scrolled down that I’d see a poor birdie clutched in his talons — though I’m sure you’d have provided a “trigger” warning. 😂
Thanks, Chris. Yeah, I’d probably provide a trigger warning if it was at all graphic.
🤣 enjoyed this. They are amazing tiny warriors.
Thanks, Susan.
You said at the start you don’t have enough shutter speed to freeze their wings? But all these photos have beautiful wings! And there’s hummingbird pee, frozen in mid drop! How much faster can a shutter be???😄
Who knew intentional kidney failure could be useful? Gosh, I bet your bio classes were fascinating. Lucky, lucky students.
“How much faster can a shutter be???”
Carolyn, most of the photos I’ve posted here were taken at a shutter speed that was at least acceptable. Often I’m trying to photograph hummers in flight with shutter speeds as low as 1/500 sec. The wings in those photos are just a blur – some of them almost completely disappear.
The perfect middle school post, Ron — pee and poop — my students would have loved it! Hilarious comments today as well. Hummingbird “water” coming soon to Erewhon and Whole Foods. Your chair decoration is nothing compared to one of the chairs in our yard. 😂 Just the one — they leave the others alone. I’m also one of those middle-of-the-night trekkers and while a “leaky faucet” stream is annoying, it’s nothing compared to a surprise splash when the “hoverer” forgets to put down the seat!🙀
“Hummingbird “water” coming soon to Erewhon and Whole Foods.”
These days that wouldn’t surprise me one bit, Marty (although I’ve never even heard of Erewhon…)
“Hoverers” don’t forget to put the seat down. “Sitters” forget to put it up!
Probably best to put both seat and lid down — “eau de toilette” shouldn’t be a doggy beverage. 🐶🐾😈
Well it could be worse Ron. When I was an apprentice falconer underneath Morley Nelson , I had a sparrow hawk , it was flying around one day and landed on my sister’s head and crapped on her nose.
Steven, Morley Nelson approached hero status with me, though I never met him. Did you know Nancy Ertter (Nancy DeWitt now) from Boise? She worked with Morley for many years. She’s a good friend of mine.
I was in grade school in third and fourth and fifth grade and I lived at the bottom of the hill on ADA St. below Morley’s place, I started going up there. And he just kind of took me under his wing and I’d help him feed the birds and I started apprenticing, I never received my master falconer’s license, I moved away in sixth grade and didn’t have a mentor and I’m sure I met some of these people I can’t remember them, I was just a kid.
Very interesting on the hummers and your sense of humor – women are not immune from frequency issues at all hours as we age either! 😉
Yard is already getting “labor day quiet”. Swallows have “gathered” and gone as have Grackles (don’t miss them) and some Robins. Waxwings found and quickly demolished my small raspberry patch. Chokecherries are about all that’s left for them and other berry eaters. Guessing yo-yoing temps and smoke may have something to do with it – smoke ugly at times.
“women are not immune from frequency issues at all hours as we age either!”
Maybe so, Judy. But at least women don’t have a prostate to make things infinitely worse!
My sister in Helena said their low was 43° a few nights ago. That sounds wonderful to me.
Very interesting today with all the hummingbirds with their nectar droplets on their beaks and then also all the peeing droplets and a poop to end the day on your chair, but not by a hummingbird.
Delightful photographs as quite educational commentary.
Glad you enjoyed it, Eloise. Thanks.
Thanks, Ron! Fascinating as usual.
Kathryn
Thank you, Kathryn.
Another catchy title Ron. Had me wondering where that one was going.
Marvelous photos. Those 3rd and 4th ones are super. On a side note, you have a real talent for capturing photos of avian bodily functions. And once again, you have educated as well.
Hummingbird urine 99.5% pure water. With all the crazy brands of bottled water in the marketplace today, it is a wonder that someone has not yet monetized the hummingbird brand.
As a 72-year-old, I also am not fond of the frequent nocturnal trips to the bathroom, and the inordinate amount of time I must ‘hover’ to complete the process.
Nice seeing Hannibal again. Guess he wants you to know who owns the place.
Michael. I rarely guffaw twice while reading a reader’s comment but your comment did that to me – thanks to paragraph number 3 and the last part of 4. Thanks for that.
😁
Good morning. Great post. A narrative that would delight any 5 year old boy obsessed with toilet humor. And this 80-year-old broad enjoyed it too!
I had the pleasure of watching Blazing Saddles with a 5-year-old cousin and I don’t think I ever heard anyone laugh during the bean-eating scene as heartily and joyously as that little boy did.
“And this 80-year-old broad enjoyed it too!”
Very good to know, Sue! I doubt I’ll ever lose my immature sense of humor. It’s too late for me to grow up now…
Sorry for the repeat reply. Something strange happened and I lost my mind for a minute. I totally love an immature sense of humor! Give me Monty Python and Mel Brooks any day of the week.
I once had the pleasure of watching Blazing Saddles with a 5-year-old cousin. I never heard anyone laugh as heartily and joyously during the bean-eating scene than that little boy.
One of my all-time favourite posts Ron! I love HBs, and have NEVER seen one piss, or seen a shot of one pissing. Congratulations!! and thanks!!!
Thanks very much, Burrdoo.
Great post this morning. My favorite birds are hummers and I am always thankful for additional information about them. They are active in my yard as well/ The cooper just left you a calling card. Thanks and hope your discomfort is brief.
“hope your discomfort is brief.”
It’s brief but it’s far too reliable, Betty. Thanks.
Love this! The whole article was great. And as a birder, I learned a lot I did not know about these little guys. I have to admit, I have never thought about a hummer peeing before.
Connie, they pee a lot but it’s so quick the photographer has to get lucky (and take a LOT of photos) to capture it.
Very nice to hear from you this morning 🙂
Hummers are my fav! Thanks for giving us new info on just how very special they are. My husband agrees with you on the nightly pee routine. And your hawk is giving you a ‘hello.’ Hahaha. How can you possibly get ‘weary from all the bright colors?!’ Your garden is lovely.
“How can you possibly get ‘weary from all the bright colors?”
I guess I just like a little variety, especially after reviewing thousands of photos that include those bright colors. Thanks, Kathleen.
Awesome pictures once again. And cool story line.
I had the joy to experience a Coopers Hawk on my fence yesterday. He was hunting my bird feeders. I took a picture with my phone, but can’t compare to your pictures. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Travis. Phone photos can be handy but they’re often lacking.
HaHa! Great post and fantastic photos!! Thanks for the Hummingbird education and your humor!
Glad you enjoyed both. Thanks, Joanne.