![\"hummingbird](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/hummingbird-6735-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI happened to snap the shutter just as this hummingbird dumped a load.\u00a0 As you can see it has a very different appearance from the cloacal contents of most birds – visually it appears to be only water.<\/p>\n
Because hummingbirds also\u00a0eat some insects\u00a0in order to provide them\u00a0nutrients (proteins, fats\u00a0etc)\u00a0other than\u00a0the carbohydrates found\u00a0in nectar and because solid and liquid wastes are each deposited in the cloaca of birds before expulsion there are occasionally bits of insect exoskeleton and other indigestible substances\u00a0in the wastes of hummingbirds.\u00a0 But proportionately\u00a0they consume so much nectar that their\u00a0excreta is mostly water.<\/p>\n
And that’s why you won’t find typical “whitewash” beneath habitual hummingbird perches.<\/p>\n
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I did catch one of the hummers going after\u00a0a tiny\u00a0insect.\u00a0 It happened in a flash and the bird immediately went back to drinking nectar.\u00a0 Sorry about the poor image quality but at least it illustrates the behavior.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s my guess that many folks think of\u00a0the\u00a0bill of birds as rigid and completely\u00a0inflexible but some\u00a0species (including hummingbirds)\u00a0are capable of flexing their\u00a0mandibles (rhynchokinesis).\u00a0\u00a0 Normally, as in this photo, the upper and lower mandibles conform perfectly to each other.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But in a variety of situations these birds flex the upper mandible in particular so that it’s a different shape than the lower one.\u00a0 Here the tip of the upper mandible has been raised up so that the tip of the tongue can be extruded.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another example.\u00a0 Note that the proximal end of the bill is closed while the distal end is open.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n They also do it in flight.<\/p>\n My photos only show relatively small amounts of flexing – the mandibles can be flexed much more than my images illustrate.\u00a0 Some more extreme examples of rhynchokinesis in shorebirds can be seen here.<\/a><\/p>\n I’ve had so much fun with hummingbirds the last two days I might try it again this morning.\u00a0\u00a0And then I’ll\u00a0get the hell\u00a0out of Dodge before the Antelope Island Festival begins…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some of the hummingbird images I’ve taken the last few days on Antelope island illustrate a few of their fascinating adaptations for their rather unique lifestyle.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n