Right outside our kitchen window, a hummingbird sits in her nest. The nest is leftover from last year and was built on top of one of our porch swing chains. To give you some perspective, not much more than a quarter would fit easily into the nest.
I wish we could figure how to get a better picture without disturbing her or the nest. For now, we’ll stick to taking pictures through the window. In the meantime, you should check out this post from one of Carson’s visits to Morning Bray Farm last summer, when she took some amazing photos of our hummer babies.
May 28, 2010 at 4:14 am
Now that is w-a-y too cool! I’ve never seen a hummer nest before … please keep us updated.
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May 28, 2010 at 6:42 am
Pat,
We sure will. Have a great weekend!
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May 28, 2010 at 4:38 am
I am so glad you put a picture of a hummingbird’s nest! We have so many around here(hummingbirds) and I always wondered what their nest looks like.
I did look at Carson’s pictures and they were just wonderful!
Have a great weekend.
Pam
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May 28, 2010 at 6:44 am
Pam,
I too had never seen a hummingbird nest before last year. You have a great weekend as well!
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May 28, 2010 at 4:51 am
How lucky are YOU to have that nest right outside your window???
This year, I had pretty much decided I wasn’t going to do hummingbird feeding. They’re so greedy that keeping the feeders filled becomes a part-time job.
Twice, though, I’ve had one stop, hover and stare at me: “All right. Where is it?!”
I’m waiting right now for the nectar to cool enough to fill the feeders.
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May 28, 2010 at 6:47 am
June,
It is a lot of work keeping those feeders filled, isn’t it? We haven’t been able to specifically identify what kind of hummingbirds we have yet, but on whatbird.com, an interesting fact listed about black-chinned hummingbirds is: In cold weather, a Black-chinned Hummingbird may ingest three times its body weight in nectar in one day. No wonder we’re constantly refilling our feeders! 🙂
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May 28, 2010 at 4:53 am
Amazing photos (went back to Carson’s post, too.
What is the nest made out of? And can you use your porch swing still?
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May 28, 2010 at 6:51 am
C,
Okay, this is pretty cool. I knew that their nests were made up of spider and insect silk (and bits of leaves and whatnot). What I didn’t know is what I just found on whatbird.com under the same listing for the black-chinned hummingbird: Their nest can expand as nestlings grow. The spider and insect silk holding it together stretches and allows the nest to grow along with the growing chicks. How smart is that? 🙂
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May 28, 2010 at 6:55 am
p.s. Forgot to answer this part… we aren’t using the porch swing for now because momma hummingbird flies off if we get too close to the nest.
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May 28, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Spider and insect silk? Wow. That is cool! And an expanding nest. That is really neat.
Here is a photo series of a humingbird nest that I saved from years ago on my computer. It’s really interesting! http://community-2.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM/
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May 28, 2010 at 2:06 pm
C,
That photo series is simply amazing! Loved it. Thanks so much for sharing!!! Have a great weekend.
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May 28, 2010 at 6:50 am
I found a hummingbird’s nest a couple of years ago in a maple tree in our front yard. I wanted to leave it there but one of my granddaughter’s wanted to take it to “show & tell”…. naturally, I let her have it but I really wanted to see if they would come back the next year. It was so incredibly small and a ton of different materials! It was very interesting. Have a good Memorial day weekend.
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May 28, 2010 at 6:54 am
Nancy,
Do you remember it being very soft? 🙂 You have a great weekend too – hugs!
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May 28, 2010 at 7:25 am
It was soft – I do remember that. It had strands of hair, a piece of material from a ribbon on a basket from the pool deck and lots of stuff that I didn’t know what it was. Now I know, thanks to you, that some of that stuff was silk….
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May 28, 2010 at 8:46 am
Wow. How absolutely lovely to watch those little miracles grow outside your window. I’m beaming just at the thought of it.
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May 28, 2010 at 8:47 am
Oh….p.s…..about the ‘thing’…I KNOW!!!! I’m burstin’ over here. Little impromptu happy dancing is breaking all over the place. K. Shhhh…..
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May 28, 2010 at 9:28 am
It’s gonna be soooo fun!!! 🙂 Have a great weekend Carolynn!
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May 28, 2010 at 9:01 am
I am so jealous. Very cool.
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May 28, 2010 at 9:30 am
David,
Could ya pop on over and take a few pics for us? 😉 Oh, and I have to say it again, your blog post is awesome today. 🙂 Have a great weekend.
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May 28, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Thanks again. I could catch the Red-eye out of ATL and be there in the morning…
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May 28, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Lucky you!!! I’ve wanted to just see a hummer nest. To have one so up close & personal would be an unbelievable treat. Great photo, and please do keep us updated. Off to check out your link to last years’ nest…
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May 28, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Tammy,
Will do! Have a great weekend and please give the girls a hug from us.
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May 28, 2010 at 2:24 pm
All those photos were just amazing. We’ve seen a couple of hummingbirds whiz by the back porch at our place, which is a couple more than we ever saw in the city. I was thinking about putting out a feeder, but didn’t know if 2 birds meant we’d have enough come back to feed or they were just passing by. Anyway, when I looked at those pics from last year, I wondered to myself if those little ones managed to stay in the nest long enough to grow up and fly away. Thanks for sharing!
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May 28, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Some people search their whole lives for a hummingbird nest and never find one. How amazing that one is just out on your porch!
How very cool that the nest expands!! I love learning new things. 🙂
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May 28, 2010 at 5:06 pm
That is so cool!!!! Wow!!! And you get to watch it right through your window!! Wow!!!
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May 29, 2010 at 9:30 am
How cool.
The first time I saw a hummer in person I was startled half out of my skin. I hadn’t realized that they buzz, and I thought at first it was the biggest bug I had ever seen!
🙂
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May 31, 2010 at 6:51 am
What incredible home builders! Spider silk? And i just brush it away!
Nothing is wasted, is it?
We plant salvias and they love them. I tried keeping feeders but I just can’t keep them up.
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June 1, 2010 at 7:26 am
I checked out C in WI’s hummingbird pictorial and it was awesome! Thanks for sharing C!
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