31 March 08

Hummingbird Nests

Anna's hummingbird nest We were taken on a tour of a friend’s property yesterday. He has a lot of riparian oak woodland and for some time now has been keeping tabs on what nests on his patch.

We saw at least six Anna’s hummingbird nests: at least two incubating females, at least three nests with visible chicks. The chicks hatch with very short bills, which start growing fast (as do the chicks; hard to see how they stay in that nest which is little bigger than an acorn cup, adorned with lichens, but they somehow manage).

As I watched these two chicks, perfectly immobile, their mother buzzed by me and hovered right behind them…

Posted by at 05:06 PM in Bird of the Day | Link |

  1. Oh so cute! At least if the mom dive-bombs you, it wouldn’t hurt too much. We had a mockingbird dive-bomb us one time (we had no idea its nest was close by), and that was a little scarier.


    — Teresa    1. April 2008, 10:44    Link

  2. rooks are cool


    — will    23. February 2009, 07:11    Link

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