Hummingbirds are beloved for their beauty and remarkable abilities. Their tiny size and flashy colors make them captivating to watch, especially when they hover at flowers to feed. Given their appeal, it’s common for people to want to attract hummingbirds to their yards by putting out feeders or planting flowers they like. When hummingbirds come to those feeders, some people wonder if the birds realize they are being provided with nourishment. Do hummingbirds have any sense of gratitude and will they express thanks in their own way? Let’s take a look at what we know about hummingbird behavior to try to answer this charming question.
Do hummingbirds understand the concept of a food source?
Hummingbirds are highly intelligent creatures with excellent memories. They have the ability to remember reliable food sources and will return to those locations repeatedly. This indicates they comprehend the idea that particular flowers and feeders provide them with the nectar they need to survive. However, it is unlikely they associate these food sources with humans intentionally providing for them. Hummingbirds view flowers and feeders simply as places where they can eat. They do not possess a human-like concept of gratitude or consciously feel thankful.
Hummingbirds remember the locations of preferred food sources
Hummingbirds have a remarkable ability to remember locations where they have previously found food. Their spatial memory skills are quite advanced among birds. When they discover a good source of nectar, either at a flower or feeder, they will remember where it is located. Hummingbirds have been shown to remember favorable feeding sites for up to a year, even if those food sources are not continuously available or are seasonal.
This indicates that when a hummingbird comes to a feeder you filled with nectar, it is likely because they remember feeding from it in the past, not because they feel any sense of you providing for them. The hummingbird is just returning to a spot it knows usually has food.
Hummingbirds view feeders as simply another source of food
From a hummingbird’s perspective, an artificial feeder is no different than a flower. Both provide access to the high-energy nectar that makes up the bulk of their diet. Hummingbirds do not understand that humans intentionally set out and fill feeders to supplement the natural flowers in the area. They do not possess the more complex cognitive abilities required to grasp that concept or experience gratitude because of it.
Hummingbirds approach feeders, as well as flowers, as just another potential food source in their environment. Their main motivation is the hunger drive, not a sense of thankfulness. They will gladly take advantage of whatever reliable feeding opportunities they find, whether from a flower or human-provided feeder.
How do hummingbirds communicate?
Hummingbirds have limited vocalizations and do not communicate in ways humans can easily interpret. But they do use body language and non-vocal sounds to express some basic messages among themselves. While fascinating to observe, none of their typical communication methods allow hummingbirds to convey anything resembling human-like gratitude.
Body language and flight displays
Hummingbirds have specialized body feathers called coverts that they can lift and spread to show flashing colors. They use this display during courtship or aggression. Females will also do a display called a pendulum flight to attract males when ready to breed. It serves a purpose among their own species, but these beautiful flashing displays are not directed at humans.
Other body language includes wing-flicking to signal aggression or irritation. And they may flap their wings rapidly in-place if distressed. Again, while interesting behavior to see, none of it indicates thankfulness.
Calls and chirps
Hummingbirds are not songbirds. But they do make some simple vocalizations. For example, brief high-pitched chirps or squeaks are used to signal alarm, aggression or courtship. The male’s courtship call is a buzzing sound. They may also emit single chirps when chasing another hummingbird away from a food source.
Their vocalizations all serve basic communication functions among their own kind. But hummingbirds do not have the vocal complexity to convey human-defined emotions and ideas like gratitude. They are fascinating sounds, but not verbal expressions of thanks.
Non-vocal sounds like tail-flicking
In addition to vocalizations, hummingbirds can make sounds by flicking their tails against plant leaves. These tail-flicking sounds are thought to potentially attract females or signal irritation. Again, while intriguing behavior, it does not qualify as expressing thankfulness.
Do hummingbirds feel bonded to humans?
Hummingbirds do not form emotional social bonds with humans the way some other bird species can. Providing them food does not tame or train them to feel comfort with humans. They are inherently wild creatures motivated by finding food, not affection for people.
Hummingbirds avoid close interaction with humans
You may see amazing photos of hummingbirds perched on a person’s hand sipping nectar. But those are extremely rare, split-second occurrences with very calm, patient people attempting to get close-up photos. Hummingbirds do not naturally feel comfortable perching on humans and interacting closely.
More typically, hummingbirds will startle and quickly fly away if a human gets too close. They prefer to wait until you move away before approaching a feeder. This behavior demonstrates they do not feel safe and bonded with humans.
Feeding does not habituate hummingbirds to humans
Some bird species can be hand-fed and become accustomed to interacting comfortably with people. However, feeding hummingbirds does not cause them to overcome their natural wariness of humans. No matter how regularly you fill feeders in your yard, the hummingbirds will not become tame, friendly or trusting of you.
They will learn that your yard is a reliable food source and remember its location. But they will not come to view you as anything more than another large moving creature to avoid.
Hummingbirds are not capable of bonding with humans
Even animals like dogs that have been domesticated to live closely with humans required thousands of years of selective breeding to develop the traits that allow social bonding. Hummingbirds are wild animals that do not live in family groups and have not undergone any comparable process.
They are solitary creatures aside from brief breeding interactions. So they simply do not have the capacity to form affectionate attachments to humans, no matter how often we provide them with food.
Do hummingbirds interact with each other beyond mating?
Hummingbirds are primarily solitary creatures that do not socialize beyond basic mating interactions. Their lack of social bonds and communication even with each other makes it very unlikely they would express gratitude among their own species, let alone to humans.
They are solitary and territorial
Aside from reproduction, hummingbirds live alone and do not form flocks or families. Each bird maintains its own separate habitat area and food sources. They are highly territorial, chasing away other hummingbirds that attempt to encroach.
Given how solitary hummingbirds are by nature, it’s not surprising they do not develop social bonds even with humans who feed them. They do not live in cooperative social groups of their own species either.
Interactions are limited to courtship displays
Male hummingbirds perform elaborate courtship rituals to attract females. This includes aerial displays, vocalizations and flashing their colorful feathers. Females may also do special flight displays to get a male’s attention.
But once mating occurs, the male and female go their separate ways. The female has sole responsibility for building the nest, incubating eggs, and raising chicks. Since hummingbirds live alone most of the time, they have limited opportunities for non-mating communication or expressing thankfulness to each other.
They do not coordinate to communicate food locations
Some social bird species like crows use calls to alert others in their group to the presence of food. Hummingbirds do not have any comparable vocalizations to tell each other about good feeding spots.
Given their solitary natures, lack of social structure, and limited communication abilities, hummingbirds do not have mechanisms to display gratitude among themselves, let alone to humans.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while hummingbirds are intelligent and remember locations of good food sources, they do not possess the mental complexity to feel human-like gratitude or intentionally communicate thanks. They have a basic drive to seek nectar and will remember feeders and flowers that have provided it in the past. But they do not form bonds with humans or understand that the food source is intentionally being provided for them.
Hummingbirds also lack vocalizations and non-verbal communication abilities that would enable them to convey anything resembling gratitude, even to each other. Some people may wish to imagine hummingbirds feel thankful when enjoying a feeder or flower. But based on evidence of their cognitive skills, communication methods, and solitary natures, the most accurate answer to whether hummingbirds say thanks is no.
However, that does not make attracting hummingbirds to a yard with flowers and feeders any less enjoyable. We can appreciate the privilege of temporary close observation of these beautiful, delicate creatures without needing them to satisfy human desires for connection and gratitude.
