![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rufous-hummingbird-3711-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rufous-hummingbird-3711-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nI’d read that hummingbirds are capable of flying upside down, but I never thought I’d document it in photos.<\/p>\n
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Earlier this month this Rufous Hummingbird was frustrating me because it kept landing and burying its head in the trumpet vine flowers instead of feeding while still in flight. I didn’t need any more headless butt shots like this one.<\/p>\n
So I tried to time a shot taken immediately after the hummer backed out of the flower.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/rufous-hummingbird-3712-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"rufous-hummingbird-3712-ron-dudley\\"")
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This is what I got in the very next photo. The hummer had rotated its body 180\u00b0 so it was completely upside down in flight. I can only guess at its motivation for doing so but it’s something I’d never seen before, much less documented in photos.<\/p>\n
However, the birds head was still right side up and nearly level – a pretty neat trick.<\/p>\n
I have no idea how long the hummer stayed upside down. In the next shot in the burst the bird was completely out of frame, so I suspect this unusual flight maneuver was a preliminary to a burst of speed.<\/p>\n
Yes, I wish the birds head was sharper in that last photo but I’m still glad to have it.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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I’d read that hummingbirds are capable of flying upside down, but I never thought I’d document it in photos.\u00a0(2 photos)<\/p>\n