It has been a pretty rainy day here today, and at first I wasn’t sure I’d get a chance to go outside and visit my bird friends. Eventually, I did head out, but it wasn’t long before the rain started again. Some of the birds were still out feeding, though, so I decided to stay out, too. The main ones who didn’t quit despite the rain were the northern cardinals and the ruby throated hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris). I’m not sure why the cardinals stayed out in the rain, but the little hummingbirds have very high metabolisms and they need to eat often in order to continue to function. This little female was especially persistent and kept coming back to the feeder over and over whether it was raining or not. If you look closely at her chest, you can see water droplets running off her, but she didn’t seem to care. Each time she returned she drank for quite a while, too. It makes me suspicious that she may have nestlings somewhere needing food, too. That’s the job of a Mom; feeding the youngsters rain or shine.