Nature

We have a hummingbird that has visited us regularly for years. Mom always puts out sugar water for him (her)? He always follows the same path, he visits and then head the same direction. I’ve seen it dozens of times. We didn’t put the feeder out this season because we have a bear that likes to destroy the feeders in the neighborhood.
Mom put it out tonight. We were sitting on the back deck a few minutes ago and the hummingbird appeared right over her head, hovered for a moment and then flew off. He NEVER to my knowledge goes to the back of the house. Is it possible he was thanking her?
Animals are a whole lot smarter and intuitive than we give them credit for.