Hummingbird Bathing in a Floral Bathtub

A hummingbird behavior I’ve been trying to capture for a long time.

In the past I’ve posted quite a few photos of hummingbirds at a clump of deep orange canna lilies in my garden. There’s a second clump of red and yellow cannas in a different part of my garden but because of complicated reasons related to light angle and unappealing backgrounds, I haven’t photographed hummingbirds there (poor planning on my part – next year I’ll plant them in a different location).

But two mornings ago, thin clouds and a bright white sky dispersed light everywhere, allowing me to get a better background with light on the hummers that was at least acceptable. These photos are from that morning.

 

This female was the only hummer that showed up. I expected to get typical hummingbird photos of her hovering over the flowers that she was feeding on but she had something else in mind. She never did feed on the open flower below her.

 

 

Instead, she landed right in the middle of it. At first it appeared that she was using it for support as she probed some nearby unopened flower buds for tiny insects (possibly ants).

It may have been at this moment that she realized that the flower she was in had water in it. About 10 minutes earlier I had hand-watered these canna lilies and they were still very wet, as evidenced by the water droplets on the flower near the bottom of the frame.

 

 

Then she started bathing in her floral bathtub, throwing water all around.

 

 

I’ve cropped this photo unconventionally to show how far up she was throwing the water droplets. She rested her chin on the lip of the flower while she was fluttering in the water.

 

 

I’m including this photo to show how “bathtub-like” that flower is. It could hold a lot of water.

 

 

Eventually her bathing activity slowed down and she appeared to be interested in exploring other flowers, including with her long tongue. After I took this photo she took off and fed on other nearby flowers.

 

 

Less than 30 seconds later she returned to the same flower and attempted to bathe again. But by now it appeared that most of the water in the flower was gone. This is the only flying water drop I captured during her second attempt. So, she was done and so was I.

I’ve seen hummers bathing on wet flowers and even leaves before but they’ve always been far away. Or I haven’t had my camera with me.

I like the photos but it was even more rewarding to experience the behavior up close and personal.

Ron