The Cultivating Garden #21: The Hummingbirds of Mom’s Garden, Part II

The following photos are from about a week ago when California was experiencing a heat wave, resulting in 108-112 degree weather. They differ from the previous post in that all of the hummingbirds are silhouetted. This affords a unique view into their flight patterns and especially new insight (at least for me) into their beak anatomy! I’ve occasionally witnessed their tongues flick out with my naked eye-balls but now I’ve been able to capture it in pictures. The other interesting thing I noticed was the fact that, like many other birds, hummingbirds will also keep their mouths open when they are experiencing a heat wave. I’ve never seen such a long and narrow beak open like this! It almost looks like he is smiling, which amuses me.

Enjoy these toasty-warm hummingbirds. And for the record, we are all glad the heat wave is behind us:)