Hummingbird Nest at Harbour Club Villas Part 2

Posted on March 13, 2020 by marta

Two little eggs were laid but only one left……….perhaps taken by one of our critters like a pygmy boa.

Unfortunately, one day when I looked in the nest, only one egg remained. I asked around and found out that it could have been a snake that made off with the egg. In any case about two weeks after the eggs were laid, a baby hummingbird hatched.

Just hatched…too bad I didn’t get it on camera!

The mother hummingbird disposes of the broken egg shells after the babies are hatched. When the baby hummingbirds hatch, they have no feathers and dark skin and they are hatched with their eyes are closed.

Momma flies in to feed the little one.

The mother hummingbird drinks nectar and eats tiny bugs. she then will regurgitate the slurry substance that her baby can easily digest. She flies in every 20 minutes or so to feed this mixture to the baby hummingbirds. Of course there are usually two babies to feed so she’s kept very busy.

Big yellow beak and wide open mouth just waiting to be fed.

The baby grows pretty fast and the feathers are coming in.

When the baby hears the whirring of the Momma’s wings, it pops up and opens its beak ready for feedings

A good perspective so that you can see how tiny the nest is as compared to an adult hand

When the baby hummingbirds are first born, the mother hummingbird will spend most of her time sitting on the nest, keeping the baby hummingbirds warm.

The baby hummingbirds will feel the wind from the wing of their mother and lift their little heads up and open their mouths.

The mother hummingbird puts her beak all the way down into the mouths of the baby hummingbirds while dropping a little of the regurgitated insects and nectar inside.

Big commotion and twittering as the momma hummingbird chases off a curly tail lizard……she fans out her tail feathers as a warning.

The baby quickly doubles in size.

After one week, the baby hummingbird is covered in tiny little fuzzy feathers

The baby spends a lot of time snoozing but grows very quickly with all the daily feedings

More to come as the baby starts moving around more and grows large enough to fill up the nest.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbird Nest at Harbour Club Villas Part 1

Posted on March 13, 2020 by marta

The start of a hummingbird nest in a potted Desert Rose at Harbour Club Villas and Marina

Two weeks ago, I noticed a hummingbird flying around a Desert Rose that I had growing in a pot at our villas at Harbour Club Villas and Marina. I noticed something on a branch and on looking closer discovered the start of a nest. She was a busy little bird flying to and fro gathering bits of bark, spiders nests, fibers and the hairs from the Old Man Cactus. An amazing piece of work!

Here she is perched on the nest.

A close-up view of the nest showing the delicate, soft bits lining the inside.

Here she is bringing back some wisps of white fluff for the nest.

Love this one as she looks overcome by all the bits and trying to pack them down.

Hummingbirds bring little bits of fluff, bark, fibers back to the nest a little at a time and it’s glued all together with spider webs. The nest will stretch because of the spiders webs as the babies grow. The photo above shows her with webs over her beak and body as she tries to pack it all down. The hummingbird will camouflage the nest as much as she can by using small sticks, bark and plant pieces for the darker outside of the nest. The parts of the nest that may catch the sun are done with lighter materials while the darker parts of the nest are in the shade and blend in with the surroundings.

Notice that the nest is beginning to take shape and this is three days after I first spotted it.

She uses her wings and presses the nest against her body so that she can get the perfect shape and rounds off the center.

The nest is pointed towards the bottom join in the branch and you can clearly see the bits of plant materials used.

The nest is getting bigger and more rounded but it’s only like less than two inches across.

She’s letting me come up fairly close to her as I take all my photos.

My little hummingbird lays her first egg seven days from my noticing the nest.

She continues building the nest and doesn’t start incubating the eggs until she lays the second one.

Pretty colours as she lands on the nest.

I managed to capture her flying in with wings spread and feet grasping the edge of the nest.

Beak open as she brings more plant material for her nest.

It’s difficult to catch them in flight as the wings are beating so fast.

And then there were two little eggs. She laid them two days apart.

She will now start incubating the eggs and continue to build up the nest.

My desert rose is starting to bloom.

Usually the Momma hummingbird works on her nest for about four hours per day with many, many trips to gather materials as well as feed. She can make as many as 40 trips in a day.

She will sit on the nest incubating the two little jelly bean sized eggs for approximately 16-18 days before they hatch.

And so, she’s sitting on the eggs probably until the end of September when hopefully I’ll be able to post more photos of the eggs hatching and baby hummingbirds in the nest. I can’t wait. Make sure to check back in to see the babies. Marta http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Humming Birds at Harbour Club Villas Part 2

Posted on June 28, 2012 by marta

The hummingbird nestlings are hungry all the time and have tripled in size.

Our little baby hummingbirds are growing so fast and are now fluffy and always hungry. Mama hummingbird spends her days flying back and forth feeding them and they fill up the nest with scarcely room for her now.

Little hummingbirds almost fill up the nest but Mama still manages to squeeze herself in.

Mama hummingbird feeding her babies

Beautiful little hummers all soft and feathery and look how they fill up the nest now.

More sweet nectar as the mother hummingbird feeds her little ones

Poolside hummingbird nest and I'm amazed at how it has survived some pretty strong winds.

Beautiful irridiscent feathering on the Bahama Woodstar hummingbird

Hungrily this little one opens up his beak just as it waits for some food.

I'm hoping I'll get to photograph them as they start trying their wings ready to fly.

The palm frond is sagging quite dramatically and turning yellow so it won’t last too much longer. Enough time though for these two little ones to start trying their wings. The nest has survived some brutally strong winds and rain plus a lot of sun making for a real hot spot with not enough shade. We did put up some shade cloth but after the wind ripped it down a couple of times, we just gave up.

Hoping to have more photos as the week goes on.

Marta

www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbirds Getting Bigger Part 2

Posted on August 18, 2011 by marta

The two baby Bahama Woodstar hummingbirds are squished into the tiny nest as they continue to grow.

The above photo was taken a month ago and as you can see, the little birds are growing very fast. The nest is glued and held together with cobwebs and this enables the babies to compact and stretch the nest to hold the both of them. Clever little birds they are and when they just get too big, they are ready to fly.

Please check the previous blogs.

From building the nest..http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2601

To laying the eggs…http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2616

To the chicks hatching…http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2699

The chicks getting bigger…http://myturksandcaicosblog.com/?p=2745

One little baby sits almost on top of the other.

At a different angle, the baby birds are definitely getting too big for the nest and sure enough the day after the photo, we missed one flying out of the nest

What excitement as we managed to catch the one baby leaving the nest and making his first flight. The other little one must have been hidden in the bushes and trees.

Here it is.....ready to fly off into the big world!

It's first flight was from the nest to a nearby Opuntia cactus where he perched for a few minutes

Here the baby hummingbird lifts off and flies up into our large bouganvillea

It has been such a joy to take all these photos from start to finish…………right from when we discovered the nest just being built to seeing the eggs hatch and the birds grow and fly away. Nature is so wonderful !!

Now just when I was getting used to leaving my camera behind…………..we have another event unfolding!!!!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbirds Getting Bigger

Posted on July 13, 2011 by marta

Here's the MaMa hummingbird feeding one of the babies that I managed to catch on camera.

Ten days ago, the little baby hummingbirds were tiny and scrawny with hardly any feathers. I spent hours trying to get photos of her feeding them but she was really edgy if I got up too close. The last few days or so she doesn’t spend as much time sitting on the nest as the little ones are growing fast.

A baby opens his bright yellow beak wide ready for a meal.

They are now filling up the nest and are all feathery.

Often when I walk past the cactus, all I see is two little beaks sticking up out of the nest.

The mother will feed the nestlings on small insects and nectar by inserting her bill into the open mouth of a nestling and regurgitating the food.

A close up shows the little ones nestled together with beaks resting on the edge of the nest.

The Mama Bahama woodstar humming bird watches me from a nearby branch

The hummingbird mother pushes the food down the chicks’ throats with her long bill directly into their stomachs. The little chicks are brooded only the first week or two, and left alone after about 12 days – probably due to the small nest size. The chicks leave the nest when they are about 20 days old.

Twin beaks peaking out of the nest which is made of silks and apparently expands a bit as they grow.

The young hummingbirds are beginning to show some greenish tinged feathers as you can see in the photo

They are growing fast and so small and downy looking. The first baby hatched June 29 so they are about two weeks old.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Then There Were Two….Hummingbirds

Posted on June 30, 2011 by marta

Then there were TWO........the second egg hatched today.

I peeked into the nest today while Mama hummingbird was away and discovered that the second egg had hatched. Apparently when hummingbirds lay their eggs, the incubation starts once both eggs are in the nest and so they hatch at about the same time.

I never thought they'd be so dark and scrawny looking with a few feathers on their back.

I managed to catch two little beaks wide open and waiting for food.

Here's the cracked egg and you can just see the yellow beak of the second, newly hatched humminbird

Two hummingbird babies lying beside the discarded shells....I wonder what will happen to the egg shells as the birds get larger.

I’m so pleased at being able to photograph these sweet little hummingbird nestlings.

Enjoy!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Baby Hummingbird

Posted on June 29, 2011 by marta

Peaked in the nest today and surprise, surprise, there it was, a tiny little hummingbird has hatched.

The other egg is still waiting to hatch and the mother hummingbird still sits on the nest most of the time .

Here's the little one with his beak wide open hoping for some food.

The mother hummingbird tending to her young.

Bahama Woodstar hatchling.

Tiny newborn hummingbird.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbird Update

Posted on June 12, 2011 by marta

Here she is.....nest all finished and ready to lay her eggs.

All during this last week, our little hummingbird mama has been soooo busy building her nest. It has grown quite substantially (see my earlier blog as she began building her nest). For the first several days we had consistent rain but that didn’t stop her as she flew in and out with soft bits of tree bark and glued her nest together with spider webs.

Note she has some fluff in her beak to line the nest with some softness.

Clever little bird, she camouflaged her nest well and built it into a cactus branch. This is another of Mike's super photos...look at the colours on the tail feathers!!

A closer look at those spectacular colours on her tailfeathers

Two days ago when I took a look inside the nest, the Bahama Woodstar hummingbird had laid a tiny egg. Apparently it will take 16 to 18 days to incubate but I’m thinking she will be laying another egg soon. So far though, there’s only the one.

One little egg in the nest ..... will she lay another?

She spends lots of time sitting on the egg in her nest. We walk past here so many times during the day so she must be getting used to the traffic.

Hummingbirds build an amazing, well constructed nest that is a bit more than an inch or so in diameter and probably two inches high so that the eggs are secure. It is round, open, and made of soft woolly material similar to cotton, camouflaged on the outside with tiny pieces of bark . We have some wild cotton here at Harbour Club so she has probably found some of that to line her nest with. They may choose a variety of sites from two feet to twelve feet from the ground. Two rather elongated white eggs are generally laid so we are now waiting for the second egg to appear.

You can see a closer view of the egg in the hummingbird's nest

: Nesting hummingbird hidden in the cactus tree close by our walkway to our house at Harbour Club Villas

Much excitement with watching and photographing this little hummingbird! Watch for more as hopefully the babies will hatch in a few weeks. I’m also watching a Gray Kingbird nest which today has four eggs in it. When I first saw it, there were just two but these birds lay up to five eggs….so we’ll see. But this will be for another post.

Happy birding and birdwatching!!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbird Nest

Posted on June 2, 2011 by marta

I looked and looked trying to find the little hummingbird's nest........finally, there it was!

Over the last few days, every time I walked up the stone pathway to our cabin, a tiny hummingbird would hover over my head as if to say….don’t come any closer! I thought there might be a nest in the large Sapodilla tree but I kept looking there and couldn’t find anything. I finally stood there and took a few photos of the hummingbird as she perched and posed on a branch.

The start of a tiny nest on a cactus plant....soft plant material and cobwebs to glue it together.

The Bahama Woodstar hummingbird spent alot of time today flying in with bits of soft plant pieces and leaf hairs. The spider webs make terrific glue for the nest and allow the nest to stretch and be flexible as the baby hummingbirds grow. Take a look at the spider’s webs holding the nest on the cactus as well as the cactus spikes.

Bahama Woodstar hummingbird forming her nest with her body as she builds it in a tall cactus tree beside our cabin.

A mother hummingbird will sit in a nest and use a wing to press the nest against her body to mold it into the perfect shape. She will press her rump into the center of the nest and against the walls to round the inside. I’m excited at the prospect of watching this mama bird as she completes the nest and lays her eggs. Also wondering if this cactus branch isn’t a little too exposed especially with all the comings and goings of Barry and I as it’s right there at the entrance to our cabin.

The Mama hummingbird trying her nest on for size!

I’m hoping in the days to come to get photos of the eggs and baby birds. Keep checking back.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Baby Hummingbirds

Posted on August 9, 2010 by marta

Here's the little baby hummingbird just waiting for Mama to bring him some food.

Hummingbirds have long tongues and I didn't know that until I saw this photo.

To reach the nectar at the base of a long flower tube, a hummingbird will extend its tongue past the bill to a distance at least as long as the bill. I’m not sure if the baby hummingbird was trying to lap something up or just preparing for his Mama and feeding time.

The Mama hummingbird arrives for a feeding.....she's on the left and baby has cocked his head away from the camera for the feeding so I didn't get and good photos.

The Mama hummingbird arrives for a feeding.....she's on the left and baby has cocked his head away from the camera for the feeding so I didn't get any good photos.

He was looking around for his Mama......we could hear her but couldn't see her.

Hummingbirds feed by dipping their tongues into nectar at up to 12 times a second. The mother humming bird will eat nectar and bugs and then regurgitate the substance into a slurry mixture the baby hummingbirds can digest. She inserts her beak all the way down into the mouths of the baby hummingbirds while dropping the regurgitated insects and nectar inside.

Almost grown and ready to venture out on its own.

Hope you enjoyed the last few posts on these extraordinary little creatures. I sure had fun watching and photographing them.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

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Turks and Caicos Vacation, Travel, Fishing, and Diving

Tag Archives: Bahama Woodstar

Hummingbird Nest at Harbour Club Villas Part 2

Hummingbird Nest at Harbour Club Villas Part 1

Humming Birds at Harbour Club Villas Part 2

Hummingbirds Getting Bigger Part 2

Hummingbirds Getting Bigger

Then There Were Two….Hummingbirds

Baby Hummingbird

Hummingbird Update

Hummingbird Nest

Baby Hummingbirds