Wild Bird Nest: A New Hummingbird Story by Alexandra Sanders aka the LadyWhoLovesBirds

HUMMINGBIRD NEST DISCOVERED: I started getting BUZZED by an Anna's Hummingbird the other day which usually means that a nest is near by. I started looking all over the place and finally found this wild bird's nest in the most unlikely place, at the end of a very small branch, hanging right in the middle of a path on my property which is 3 blocks or so from Monterey Bay California. I thought about pulling the branch over, closer to the tree and out of the way. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that as is, the branch will not support a squirrel or a jay or any other predator, so perhaps this was a good location after all and this will be a wild bird success story. If the branch were too close to the tree, there would be no protection from squirrels and rats and such. Read on to find out all about hummingbird nests and how you can find unique gifts for your bird loving friends and family.

DESCRIPTION OF THE HUMMINGBIRD NEST and its location:  There are two eggs in this quite perfect little nest. The nest itself is only an inch and a half across. It is made up of moss and lichen, plant down from thistles, dandelions or cattails, spider silk, cotton fibers, small bits of bark or leaves, feathers, fuzz or hairs from leaves. These materials are woven together into a dense cup that is frequently decorated with moss, lichen or other materials for camouflage. The edge of the cup is curved inward to protect the eggs from tipping out in high winds, and the spider silk used to bind the nest together gives it elasticity to enlarge as the baby hummers grow.

The choice of location is generally more protected that the one in these photos. Generally the nest is protected from the weather (this one is not), often in the forked branch of a tree, along thin plant branches or sheltered in bushes. So this photo depicts the branch with the nest; it is the bottom most branch, nearly dead center of the photo. If you look closely, you can almost see the MOMMA HUMMER. 

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To the left, I am a little closer and you can see her a bit more clearly. The red and blue are two separate surfboards standing on end behind the tree which I believe is a MAGENTA LILLY PILLY – SYZYGIUM PANICULATA – BUSH TUCKER PLANT, formerly called Eugenia. My yard is filled with flowers that hummingbirds love: Abutilon, rhododendrons, azaleas, jasmine, and I have a large shrub with red tubular flowers that bloom in the winter here on the Monterey Bay coast. I have yet to find out the name of it but have a call into a plant expert I know. The next photo is a not so great photo of the two eggs. Look at their shape....so perfect. It is my understanding that the eggs will hatch in 12-14 days and the babies will stay in the nest for 3-4 weeks. I have a bird's eye view of the nest from my office window which is on the second story. With 5 X binoculars, I can see her perfectly.

The path where the Anna's Hummingbird has built the nest is a walk-through to a storage area so I had to block it and put up a sign. She sits still as stone when we get close and we will try very hard not to go through here. Apparently it takes 14 days for the babies to hatch and then 3-4 weeks before they fledge.

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I am particularly fond of ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS and have done a series of watercolors in my Etsy Shop:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/176283496/watercolor-bird-ornament-hummingbird?ref=shop_home_active_5

by Alexandra Sanders AKA LadyWhoLovesBirds
Gifts for Bird Lovers

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