Back in the middle of June or so one of my violin students discovered that we had a hummingbird nest right outside our front door. This first picture was taken on June 24th, one month ago.
According to
Wikipedia "In many hummingbird species, spider silk is used to bind the nest material together and secure the structure to its support. The unique properties of silk allow the nest to expand with the growing young." We definitely see spider silk in this nest. There are also either chips of white paint or little pieces of paper. I never got around to putting a mirror up above the nest to see how small the eggs were. You can google images of hummingbird eggs. :)
It also says that "Incubation lasts 15 to 19 days..." which sounds about right for our nest. On July 21st as I was admitting students to the house I noticed two pokey beak-like protuberances sticking out of the top of the nest.
I wasn't sure if they were babies, and if they were, I wasn't sure if they were alive! They were perfectly still for a few minutes, and the mother was nowhere to be seen. We've been pretty busy every day for the last week or so, and we haven't paid much attention to the little nest.
However, as I sat and watched, I noticed movement! Sure enough, there are two little baby birds in this little tiny nest, and they are alive and well. I haven't seen the mother around much. Supposedly they stay pretty close by, only leaving for a few minutes each hour to get food. Seems like the babies are doing well, though. And it's so fun to have this little nature lesson right outside our front door!
According to Wikipedia "In many hummingbird species, spider silk is used to bind the nest material together and secure the structure to its support. The unique properties of silk allow the nest to expand with the growing young." We definitely see spider silk in this nest. There are also either chips of white paint or little pieces of paper. I never got around to putting a mirror up above the nest to see how small the eggs were. You can google images of hummingbird eggs. :)
It also says that "Incubation lasts 15 to 19 days..." which sounds about right for our nest. On July 21st as I was admitting students to the house I noticed two pokey beak-like protuberances sticking out of the top of the nest.
I wasn't sure if they were babies, and if they were, I wasn't sure if they were alive! They were perfectly still for a few minutes, and the mother was nowhere to be seen. We've been pretty busy every day for the last week or so, and we haven't paid much attention to the little nest.
However, as I sat and watched, I noticed movement! Sure enough, there are two little baby birds in this little tiny nest, and they are alive and well. I haven't seen the mother around much. Supposedly they stay pretty close by, only leaving for a few minutes each hour to get food. Seems like the babies are doing well, though. And it's so fun to have this little nature lesson right outside our front door!
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