Hummingbird Nest at Harbour Club Villas Part 3

Posted on March 14, 2020 by marta

At about two weeks old, the baby hummingbird is filling the nest nicely — At two weeks old, the baby hummingbird is filling the nest nicely

The little hummingbird grows very fast in its’ third week of life. Mama is flying back and forth and feeding every half hour or so. When females feed their young she inserts her long bill into a part of their esophagus and passes to them a mixture that is both nectar and insects.

Such comfort but can you imagine if there were two babies.

Nestling being fed a mixture of nectar and insects

Baby is getting quite big and can catch flying insects

Showing perspective of just how tiny the nest is

At three weeks of age, the little baby hummingbird is looking like a real hummingbird. It keeps testing its wings more and more in preparation for flight. In the next few days, this little one will fly off and I will no longer be able to photograph him daily. Sad really but I loved having been able to catch this all on camera from nest building to baby’s flight.

Hungry after that exercise and mama’s right there

And here’s the very last photo of the young hummingbird

For many weeks I photographed this delightful hummingbird. A nest was built by the mother hummingbird and she laid two eggs. One egg disappeared but I was lucky enough to film the little nestling right through to a few days after leaving the nest.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.

Marta

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

Hummingbird Rescue

Posted on August 8, 2015 by marta

Momma hummingbird feeding her two new little ones

Harbour Club Villas and Marina have a new little guest……..a Bahamas Woodstar hummingbird has built a nest in one of our Bridal Bouquet plants. The nest has been battered by the strong winds and the lower leaf supporting the nest is slowly starting to die.

Perching on her nest to feed the babies that were just hatched a day ago.

The yellow beak of one of the two little hummingbird in the nest lined with soft hairs and fibres.

Bridal bouquet showing how off kilter the nest is.

The yellowing leaf is supporting most of the nest but it’s not going to hold for sure until the birds are ready to fly.

The two little hatchling hummingbirds are at the mother’s tail and she will have to add more to her nest to shore it up so that the babies don’t fall out.

Another hummingbird nest at Harbour Club Villas…..what a work of art!

Looking down into the nest to see the little hummingbirds.

Here are the two little hummingbirds sleeping in their soft nursery.

A photo showing the sloping angle of the nest

Our little grandson peaks into the nest to see the new hatchlings

I was really worried about the little birds falling out of the nest as it seemed to be leaning really far on the one side. The nest was only woven around one leaf that was dying. I asked our gardener to try and tie up the nest so that it would last for about three more weeks.

Sturdy twigs on either side of the nest adding support and safety for the hatchlings.

I came back to find two sturdy branches tied around and supporting the nest…perfect! Mama hummingbird is now sitting upright on the nest and the little ones are safe and secure in the newly shored-up nest.

She seems to be enjoying her newly supported nest.

Collecting nectar for the babies

Minute cottonball puffs have been added to the nest

Here’s a close up of the baby hummers

Mama flies in to feed the little ones

Taking a break, the little hummingbird perches on a branch.

Here are the babies a week later and growing so fast

Two open little beaks just waiting to be fed

Mama bird’s favourite perch on a flowering ixora bush.

Flying in for a landing on her perch to see if all’s clear……….she knows I’m there

More repairs as we have to pull the bridal bouquet branch up under the eaves

More repairs …….. the leaning bridal bouquet branch was catching the full on sunshine and I could see that the baby hummingbirds were suffering the heat onslaught. We had to tie it up using the villa louvers to pull the branch back into the shade up under the eaves.

Feeding her hungry crew.

The mother hummingbird drinks nectar and catches bugs which she regurgitates into a slurry substance the baby hummingbirds can digest. This mixture is fed to the baby hummingbirds approximately every twenty minutes. She insert her beak all the way down into the mouths of the baby hummingbirds.

Peaking out of the nest with beak wide open.

When a mother hummingbird comes to feed the baby hummingbirds, the baby hummingbirds feel the wind and vibrations from the wings of their mother and lift their little heads up and open their mouths.

Close up of the nestlings as they wait for mama.

With two repairs to her nest, we are hoping all will hold together until the baby hummingbirds are ready to fly.

The mama hummingbird and one of her favourite perches in a bougainvillea that’s near the nest.

At six days old they have the startings of feathers and hungry all the time.

The little hummingbirds are grow fast and feeding is approximately every 20 minutes or so.

Hummingbirds lap up the nectar with their long slender tongues.

Two weeks old and they have fluffy feathers.

Yes, they projectile poop lifting their bums out of the nest so as not to dirty it.

See how long her tongue is?

There’s a greenish tinge to their feathers and they are looking more like hummingbirds.

One of the little guys perches at the edge of the nest.

Enjoying a little scratch as she perches on the bougainvillea branch.

Three weeks old and almost ready to fly.

The babies grip the nest with their claws so that they don’t fall out.

Now you can see the iridescent green on their feathers

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 at Harbour Club Villas

Posted on June 14, 2012 by marta

She built her little nest in the pygmy palm right at the entrance to the pool at Harbour Club Villas.

A Bahama Woodstar hummingbird built her tiny nest right at the entrance and walkway to the pool at Harbour Club Villas and Marina. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve walked by there and not noticed anything until that one time when I looked straight at her sitting on her nest. It is such a joy for me to be able to photograph these tiny little birds and right on our doorstep. Can’t imagine what possessed her to build a nest on a main walk through though! On May 28th morning, we discovered the nest and that same afternoon she laid her first tiny egg followed by the second a day later. Today, the second baby hummingbird hatched.

She is so tiny and has beautiful colours on her wings.

Flying in for a landing as she returns to her eggs.

Look at the irridiscent green of this little hummingbird's head and wings.

Here she is in flight.....so difficult to catch as my camera has a delayed shutter and I frequently miss those great shots.

The first little baby hummingbird hatches and it won't be long before the next one arrives.

It has been so hot and the pygmy palm is a little lacking in full on shade for the Mama hummingbird.

Note the piece of egg shell caught on the nest. She must have pecked it out so the baby birds would have room in the nest.

Can you see that she is actually standing in the nest......probably because of the heat these last two days while the eggs were hatching.

They are so tiny and ever so cute waiting for mama hummingbird to return

Feeding time for the little ones!

Perched on the side of the nest with one baby visible

A closer view of the two little hummingbird chicks and check out their soft, downy looking bottom of the nest

The proud mama hummingbird..........not too much rest for her in the days to come!

Hopefully I’ll be able to do a part 2 as the baby hummingbirds grow. I’m a little worried as the palm frond is already yellowing and has a definite downward droop to it. It’s also really hot and not an awful lot of shade.

Enjoy the photos,

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbird Re-Cycles Nest

Posted on August 18, 2011 by marta

A new hummingbird appeared and began adding a second storey to the old existing nest

Can you believe it? A week ago, we were surprised to see that our old hummingbird nest in the cactus beside the walkway to our house, had grown taller. It wasn’t a few minutes later, that I heard her! A new hummingbird mama had seen the nest and decided to re-use and re-cycle the old nest. She was busily adding a second storey to the old nest to build it up a little more.

Here's the nest showing the new portion between the two stars.

The nest is totally about 1 3/4 inches and the addition is almost a half inch. Still pretty tiny all things considered. Mama has laid her second egg (yesterday) and is now sitting on the nest leaving periodically to feed.

Here's the nest from the back side showing all the fine strands of cobwebs used as "glue" to secure the nest.

I wanted to show you the new materials and fluff that has gone into recycling the top of the old nest.

A backside view of the Bahama Woodstar hummingbird sitting on a nest with two little eggs

Nesting hummingbird ... how sweet she is!

So here I go again! I’ll keep taking more photos………….I can’t tell you how many I already have but there’s tons!!

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

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 at Harbour Club Villas

Posted on August 4, 2010 by marta

I looked up and straight ahead and saw a small hummingbird nest with two beaks sticking up in the air.

I was taking in the laundry today and all of a sudden I heard the humming of a hummingbird………..Barry had told me that he had seen one frequently out back of our cabin. I looked up searching for the tiny bird and to my surprise, I looked directly at a nest that was in our Poui tree. I could see two little beaks pointing straight up in the air.

The two baby hummingbirds were snuggled side by side in the nest.

The nest is made out of soft materials like moss and lichen, cotton fluffs, soft plant pieces, dryer lint, and leaf hairs. Items are brought back to the nest a little at a time and glued together with spider webs……..there’s loads of those here at Harbour Club!

I wanted you to see how this nest is cradled in a tri-fork of a Poui tree.

The Mama hummingbird looks for a place that is well off the ground to prevent predators such as ants, snakes, and predatory birds finding the nest. It must also be sheltered from wind and the heat of the sun during the main part of the day. She found a really good solid base in our Poui tree where three branches had grown from a knot.

The two baby hummingbirds are so sweet and almost look like they are getting too big to fit both of them together.

I’m thinking these two little ones will be flying the nest pretty soon as they seem to be really squished in there together.

A beautiful twosome.........I'm hoping if I watch close enough, I'll see them trying to fly really soon.

Here's a closeup of one of the babies in the nest.

And so, I’ll be watching the babies and hoping to get a few photos as they learn to fly. The positioning of the tree and the nest may make it difficult as I don’t want to scare them. We’ll see………hope you enjoy these photos.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

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Tag Archives: hummingbird nest

Hummingbird Nest at Harbour Club Villas Part 3

Hummingbird Nest at Harbour Club Villas Part 1

Hummingbird Rescue

Humming Birds at Harbour Club Villas Part 2

Hummingbirds at Harbour Club Villas

Hummingbird Re-Cycles Nest

Then There Were Two….Hummingbirds

Hummingbird Update

Hummingbird Nest

Baby Hummingbirds at Harbour Club Villas