Food and Water Play

"I have two Hummers that hit my feeders all day long and love to play in the sprinklers," writes Sue in McKinney, TX. Other observers saw water play, too, so we found out more:

Hummingbirds do bathe, and they LOVE misters, explains ornithologist Laura Erickson. "They have trouble with the deep water of most bird baths, but I've seen them in the tropics bathing in early evening, and it's really fun to see. They don't totally immerse, but dip and then preen."

Photo: Sue Warden