We discovered the nest in April inside a trumpet vine in our back yard. The baby hummingbirds hatched on May 1st. It’s amazing how quickly they grew. They will be three weeks old tomorrow and they’ll fly away soon. I’ll probably cry and will miss them so much. I hope they stay in the yard and maybe I can recognize them again at the feeders.
Nest was discovered April 19th
Day One (May 1st – 3 hours old)
It wasn’t easy getting this photo. I needed a ladder, a flashlight and some hair clips.
Day Two
The inside of this nest measures only 1/2-inch!
Day Four
They’re resting today and getting bigger (& fuzzier).
Day Seven
It looks like they’ve practically doubled in size in three days.
Day Eight
Taking an afternoon nap, enjoying the California sunshine.
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven
Day Thirteen
Day Fourteen
Day Fifteen (May 15th)
Day Sixteen
Day Seventeen
Day Eighteen
Day Nineteen
Day Twenty (running out of room)
Day Twenty-One (3 weeks old today – May 21st)
Day Twenty-Two at 3:00
Twenty Minutes Later
Day Twenty-Three
Day Twenty-Four (looks like he’s ready to move out)
Day Twenty-Five (bye-bye, birdies) 🙁
When baby hummingbirds hatch, they have no feathers and dark skin. Babies are hatched with their eyes closed and weigh about 0.62 grams (that’s 1/3 the weight of a dime). They are about one inch long with short, stubby, yellow beaks. The mother will drink nectar and eat bugs and then regurgitate them into the babies’ mouths, feeding them this mixture every 20 minutes. The babies will feel the wind from the wings of their mother and lift their little heads up and open their mouths. It will be about 3 weeks before they fly. Also, mother hummingbirds have no problem re-using another hummingbird’s nest. Sometimes the new mother will move in before the nest has had a chance to cool off from the previous brood. The nests are tiny.
R.I.P., my friend.
