The Allen’s hummingbirds have hatched!
Look closely and you will see a yellowish-orange triangle deep in the nest on the right-hand side. This is the beak on one of the hatchlings. There were two eggs. When I went to check this morning, there were no eggs visible.
My first thought was, “Oh, no. The wind yesterday or last night knocked the little eggs out of the nest.” I should have known better. The hummingbird mother would have never left the nest in the night.
Initially, I couldn’t tell for sure if there was anything in the nest. With the camera on macro and holding it at arms length, I was finally able to snap a picture where I could just make out one hatchling.
Is there a second one? I’m not sure.
Remember how small they are. The nest is only an inch and a half wide. The tiny hatchling is about the size of the fingernail on my pinky finger. The nest is nearly an inch deep, so it is possible that there is a second hatchling that I couldn’t see.
Babies are always exciting, but baby hummingbirds are uniquely special. The mother hummingbird was frantically busy all day gleaning insects so she could supply a high protein meal for her tiny ones. Stay-tuned and we will watch them grow up.
No comments:
Post a Comment