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Hummingbirds in Arizona and beyond

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You are here: Home / Archives for Hummingbird Nests

New season, new hummingbird nest

New hummingbird nest

Here’s a new hummingbird nest for the 2014 season.

Picture of a new hummingbird nest on a branch, with leaves surrounding it

This Anna’s Hummingbird nest is in a Bottle Tree. This is the second 2014 hummingbird nest in our immediate neighborhood. The first nest was too high to see clearly. The photo above was taken in early March 2014.

Anna’s Hummingbird on her new nest

Picture of an Anna's Hummingbird on her new nest . The nest is surrounded by leaves.

Here she is on her nest in the evening light. This picture was taken in early/mid March.

Baby Hummingbird beaks

Picture of two baby hummingbird beaks poking just above the rim of a nest.

The baby hummingbird beaks started to peek out of the nest. Here they are in evening light in mid March.

Standing guard

Picture of an Anna's Hummingbird against blue sky as she perches on the top of a tall plant

The female was often on guard, watching from nearby posts. She had a few look-out spots, but she used this one the most. From the top of this Yellow Bird of Paradise, she could guard both her nest and her feeder in the backyard. Her perch is at about the height of a one story house roofline.

Baby Hummingbirds get crowded

Picture of two baby hummingbird wedged into their nest and looking to the side with eyes open.

The babies were getting big. This picture was taken in late March.

Out of the nest

Picture of a fledgling hummingbird from below as it perches on a twig, looking to the side.

Here’s one of the fledgling hummingbirds, in the tree by our front door on its first day out of the nest. It flitted around in the area, peeping to bring its mother in to feed it.

Sometimes when we open the front door now, we can hear high little calls coming from the fledgling hummingbirds in the trees above. The mother returns often to the feeder, then flies up into the tree. She calls “chip! chip!” as she approaches their “peep, peep” sounds. Then it is quiet. After a little while,  the high little calls start again.

Go here to see the mother feeding one of the fledgling hummingbirds in the tree.

Back to home or other nest posts or other hummingbird pictures.

Filed Under: Hummingbird Nests, Hummingbird Pictures

Nest in the Hummingbird Aviary

Here’s the easy way to see an active hummingbird nest: in the Hummingbird Aviary at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. At least, it is easy if you are in Arizona or will be coming through in the spring. The Museum could call its hummingbird exhibit “the Hummingbird Nursery” for these few spring months.

Close up picture of a hummingbird nest in the Hummingbird Aviary

This was not the only active nest in the Hummingbird Aviary. There are other nests about, including a Costa’s Hummingbird nest near the entrance with at least one baby in it. With nests here and there in the Aviary, it is not always clear if a nest is active. The nest pictured below has a few droppings on the outside, which suggests that there may be chicks in it, hidden below the nest’s rim.

Close up picture of a hummingbird nest in the Hummingbird Aviary. No hummingbird is visible in the picture.

Anna’s Hummingbird nest

This Anna’s Hummingbird nest still had one chick in the nest last week. I did not see it exercising its wings when I was there – perhaps it was too young, perhaps it was the wrong time of the day. But I was lucky enough to catch one feeding session.

Picture of a baby hummingbird as it leans back in the nest and opens its beak. It is looking toward its mother as she flies toward the nest.

Close up picture shows Anna's Hummingbird perched on the edge of her nest with her chick in front of her with its beak open.

Close up picture of hummingbird feeding its nestling

It is an amazing experience to be so close to an active nest in the Hummingbird Aviary. The mothers are alert but basically unafraid. Nests can be within several feet of the paths. Visitors can watch the mothers and the babies openly. It is delightful to see them in action.

This is an unparalleled opportunity to see hummingbird babies and mothers up very close. If you are a hummingbird fan, visit or take a look at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum website or Facebook page.

Close up picture of a baby Anna's Hummingbird peeking out of its nest in the Hummingbird Aviary.

If you go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, plan an extra time for the Hummingbird Aviary. It is close to the museum entrance, in the Pollination exhibit area. The Aviary has many benches, the pathways are accessible, and the exhibit is not huge, all things that make for great viewing.  But there may be many other visitors, so be prepared to be patient. And while it may not always be possible to get clear photos (depending on distance to the nest, plants, and your camera), being in the Aviary is a wonderful experience.

Click here to return to home or here for more hummingbird photo posts.

Filed Under: Hummingbird Nests, Hummingbird Pictures

Video Clip of Anna’s Hummingbird on Nest

Anna’s Hummingbird on Nest

This female Anna’s Hummingbird is incubating two eggs … and in this video it looks like she is trying to get comfortable but it is likely she is keeping the space around the eggs and perhaps turning them. She does this behavior just about every time she lands on the nest. The noise you hear in the background is traffic. The nest is about 40 feet from the edge of a busy street.

She spends the majority of the day on the nest. She is away more often in the early morning and evening when there are many small flying insects about. Earlier in the nesting cycle, she seemed to spend more time away from the eggs.

The eggs were laid between March 16th and March 18th, 2013. Anna’s eggs are incubated between 14 and 19 days*. It is getting close to the time for the first egg to hatch.

This video was taken on March 28, 2013 from near the live nest cam set up.

Thank you for watching!

*Source: The Birders Handbook by Ehrlich, Dobkin, and Wheye, 1988

Filed Under: Hummingbird Nests, Hummingbird Videos

Hummingbird babies grow

The Anna’s Hummingbird babies grew quickly during May. The first chick fledged on May 16, 2012 in the early afternoon. It flew to the branches above the nest.

We believe that that second chick left the nest on about May 18, 2012 (we were traveling). Here is a series of pictures of the hummingbird babies as they start to fill in.

First one out of the nest:

Hummingbird chick on a branch above the nest

Not yet ready to leave the nest:

One hummingbird chick is left in the nest

The day before the first chick fledges:

The two Anna's Hummingbird chicks fill the nest

Earlier in May, the hummingbird chicks looked far from being able to fly:

The hummingbird chicks getting bigger

Back to Nesting Hummingbirds or home page.

Filed Under: Hummingbird Nests

Hummingbird chicks in nest, resting

Hummingbird chicks in nest rest quietly with their short beaks closed and pointing into the air.

Hummingbird chicks in nest, resting with closed beaks pointing up

Downy gray feathers are visible on these two young Anna’s Hummingbird chicks. The chicks are still small enough for both of them to fit inside the nest. The black and white bits around the edge of the nest are droppings. As the chicks grow, the droppings accumulate, and the nest stretches at the rim. See the Hummingbird Nest post to see the condition of the nest after the chicks have fledged.

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Filed Under: Hummingbird Nests

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