A baby hummingbird, that is.
I've been posting about our non-eaglets, not in Big Bear: A hummingbird had build her nest on our patio in a most precarious place. She built it on the loop of a ribbon which was hanging from the pull chain of a ceiling fan. It took her some time to make it stable as it kept sliding off the ribbon and was hanging literally by threads from the pull chain. Eventually, though, she got it reinforced and ready for eggs.
Because it is near to the ceiling and I don't have an extendable camera stick, I couldn't get very good pictures of the nest or of its contents. Nevertheless, I assumed if a hummingbird was going to build a nest anywhere, it was for the purpose of laying eggs so I left her to her work.
She spent a lot of time coming and going while building the nest and then she just nested. She sat in her nest in what appeared to be uncomfortable positions. There were two distinct positions: One was with her back arched so her beak and her tail feathers pointed to the ceiling; the other was with a straight spine with her beak and tail feathers in a horizontal line.
And then, she was gone for large chunks of the day. I was starting to think I had it all wrong. Either she had built her forever lodgings and hadn't laid any eggs or maybe her eggs didn't survive.
However, about a week or so ago, I noticed our hummingbird perching on the edge of the nest while thrusting her beak into the nest. It looked like she was feeding a baby, except we couldn't see whether or not there were any baby birds in the nest.
Other times she would sit in the nest and point her slightly open beak in the air and tilt her head side to side rhythmically. Was she listening for something? Was she searching for a scent?
Finally, I got my first glimpse of a tiny bird's head, beak thrust upward, visible just over the lip of the nest. But, for the most part, the baby stayed well inside the nest while the momma bird was gone for long stretches of time.
Today, I saw them both - momma and baby - in the nest. They were both seated in the nest with their beaks slightly parted, their heads moving side to side. Was she teaching her baby to do this? What purpose does this serve?
Now, I can see the baby alone in the nest with only its head visible from my vantage point. It has its beak in the air, slightly parted, and is tilting its head side to side like its momma taught. I can only see one head although most of the information I'm finding online suggests hummingbirds lay clutches of two eggs.
It could be a couple more weeks before the baby is ready to fly. I just hope I get to see it!
If you want to see how tiny the nest and baby hummingbirds are, here's a video. The birds in this video don't look like the birds on my patio but you'll get the idea.
I'll keep you posted on this very tiny cycle of life.
