Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A Little Surprise - Hummingbird Nest

This morning  I was trying to finish up some projects in the yard before more rain moves in for the the next three days when I noticed a little Hummingbird busily flying to one particular tree.

I stopped and went inside to get the camera to see if I could follow what she was doing.  What a nice little surprise!  She was building a nest!  This is the first time I have ever seen one in the process of nest building and was a bit mesmerized watching.  Looking closely at the nest material I see bits of lichen and catkins from the oak trees.



I had to do a little bit of reading to find some information about their nesting behavior.  Nests take appx. 6-10 days to build and measure about 2 inches across and 1 inch deep.  Average clutch size is 1-3 eggs.  It is hard to imagine how tiny the babies must be.









I saw the first Hummingbirds here this year on either 13 or 14 April.  Looking at the nest she must have started building not long after her arrival.  As I watched her today she brought in a few things and would work them into the nest.  She would then sit in the nest and appeared to vibrate as if to pack the nesting material down.  I watched her do this several times so I don't think she has laid any eggs yet.

This will definitely be something fun to watch this year.  The lighting is a bit difficult and today the wind was really blowing the branches so I hope as the sun gets a little higher in angle the light will get better and sooner or later....the wind has to quite blowing.

4 comments:

Coppertop said...

Oh my - how lucky are you!!! What a privilege to be able to see a hummingbird nest let alone watch its construction and observe the whole nesting cycle.
It pays to stop and look! Congratulations on such a neat find Paula.

Nature Girl said...

Hi Liz. Indeed I do feel lucky. I so look forward to watching the progress of the nest. I have watched her off and on today and have been trying to decide whether there are chicks yet or not. Sometimes her behavior is like she is feeding them. Stay tuned!

ME2NC said...

Great find, Paula. Can't wait to see the babies and the feeding process.

Nature Girl said...

Thanks Gladys. I am looking forward to it also. Have been worried today with all the rain and the hail that hit last night. Hope they are okay.