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
