While visiting a friend yesterday I was excited when she said “you should see the hummingbird nest right outside of my bathroom window”. Needless to say I went right out to have a look.
If I hadn’t known it was there I might have completely overlooked it. On the thin, bare branch of a young ornamental tree a cryptic colored cup sat just above my head level. With a gentle pull of the springy limb I was able to bring it to eye level for a look at the single white egg. Returning the branch to its place I moved twenty feet away and watched the female Anna’s Hummingbird return to her small architectural masterpiece.
Many hummingbirds use spider silk to bind their nest materials together, and it is a treat to watch them go from shrub to shrub collecting the silken threads. Anna’s Hummingbird uses plant down as the primary component of the dwelling and once the structure is completed the exterior is camouflaged with lichens, while the interior is lined with feather down.
This is one of the first active nests I’ve seen this year, typical of Anna’s, a resident bird species which tries to have it’s nesting well underway before migrant hummingbirds like Black-chinned, and Rufous Hummingbird arrive. First perhaps, but probably last as well as she can raise as many as three broods in a nesting season that can last through the end of summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment