Hummingbird Nest Finally!

[GQ.]

I found this little nest about a week back. It is in the front yard and is visible from a side window in the living room. I have been checking it out off and on while drinking coffee in the morning. Last night was the first night she actually spent the night on the nest so I knew she had laid an egg. I snapped the second and third pictures this morning when she was out feeding. The pictures are not perfect as I just reached up and snapped a few pics without looking at what I was doing. I did not want to spend to much time at the nest and freak out the female.

The first picture is of the nest as I found it over a week ago, 19 April 2004. As you can see it is still a work in progress at this point.

ps. As near as I can tell the female is an Anna's hummingbird, Calypte anna. She has a metallic green back and crown. Her breast is light gray.

 

[GQ.]

This is a side view of the nest from this morning, 27 April 2004. The spider webs used to hold the nest together are visible in this picture.

 

[GQ.]

This picture is also from this morning, 27 April 2004. There is one little egg in the nest at this point.

 

[OldHag]

Thats amazing! Ive always loved humming birds! It just boggles the mind how tiny they are!!! Keep us updated!! Id love to see the babies!
Michelle

 

[jaijjs]

Fantastic!!! I hope you'll be able to get a shot of the mom and baby..Keep the pic's comming..

 

[Immortal_sin]

how tiny is that egg?!

 

[GQ.]

I will absolutely post more pictures once another egg is laid and again when the babies hatch out. I can hardly wait! I am also amazed at their small size. I was equally amazed by the hummer's nest building prowess. She was like a little mason spackling and wrapping the nest with spider webs. Then she would fly out and return with bits of fluff or feathers to stuff into the nest to build it up. On top of the fluff she carefully placed bits of bark or debris as camoflauge. She would use her beak like a little knitting needle to poke, prod, and rearrange bits and pieces of nest material. I will try to hold up a dime for perspective next time I take a picture. That egg is certainly no longer than the width of a dime. The width of the egg is about equal to the diameter of a disposable bic pen.

 

[jaijjs]

Wait unil the egg hatches!! They almost don't look like a bird. At least thats true with the Rufus species that come around this part of the country. We always put out cotton for them for the nesting material. I made a little wire cage for the cotton and put it close to the feeders.