Back Yard Nest with 3 eggs!
April, 2023
This page is dedicated to Olivia and her little sister Sloane!
We discovered a nest in a plant hanging from our trellis just outside our family room window.
Click Here for Hummingbird Nest!
Thursday, April 6
The nest is in the middle of the plant, about where I have drawn the yellow circle.
We think the parents are California Towhees. Usually towhees hop around on the ground eating bugs and dirt and worms and who knows what all! They aren't very colorful either.
This is looking straight down on the nest. You can see the eggs and the mama (or papa!)
Mama is on the left - kind of hard to see.
Towhee Video: Mom and Dad Towhee, one on the nest and one on a branch
Night vision photo!
Alas! We went away for a weekend and when we came back, the eggs and the birds were gone! They must have hatched and flown away.
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Sometime in early May we noticed a little hummingbird constructing a nest up under the awning in our backyard, right behind our family room!
It was impossibly small and built right on top of a wire and light bulb connection along the bottom of the awning.
The nest
We set up our trail cam and started collecting photos. It takes black and white photos at night and color photos when it's light out. The light bulbs are about 1-1/2 inches in diameter, so you have an idea of how small this nest is.
Night Vision Video - Getting the nest organized
Video: Mama flying in! You can hear her chirping!
Two eggs!!
Mama bird sitting on the eggs
Looks like one of the eggs has hatched! Is that a tiny hummingbird head?
Yes! I think it is! I wonder when its little brother or sister will hatch?
Video of the nest with one baby and one egg!
Video of mama feeding baby number one
Update: We were out of town from May 16 to June 6, but I left the trail cam to record two hours a day, one hour in the morning and one hour at night. Unfortunately, because the little critters are so active, the camera took a LOT of photos and the SD card in the camera was too small to save them all. So, I only captured activity from June 3th to June 6th. The rest got bumped off the card.
Video: Both babies in the nest at night
Video: Both babies in the nest but baby 1 is flexing its wings!
Hummingbirds usually lay two eggs a week to 10 days apart, so the eggs develop and hatch accordingly.
Fortunately, both eggs hatched and both chicks were in the nest on June 3rd and by June 6th, they had flown the coop, so to speak. Mama hummer was an empty nester!
June 4th - both little birdies in the nest
At some point on June 4th or 5th the first baby left the nest
Mama getting ready to feed her baby
Video: One left in the nest but trying out its wings!
June 5th - the second chick was still hanging out
Video: good night shot of feeding baby 2
June 5th - Mama feeding baby number two.
Video: Baby 2 flapping and testing its wings
June 6th - Baby 2 still bumming breakfast from Mama
Video: Baby 2 getting ready to go
Our mama hummingbird sucessfully built a nest on a light bulb under an awning in our back yard. She layed two eggs in it and hatched them both. Both little birds grew in the nest and were fed until they were big enough and strong enough to fly away and learn to find food and water on their own.