This nest has two newly laid eggs. It isn't the best constructed nest, but it is in a shaded and protected location. The novice female hasn't been sitting on the nest as much as the more experienced moms.
The female in the front yard has been the only mother to successfully bring two chicks to fledging. See her first chicks just before they flew. Now she's back on the same nest with two new eggs. Last year her second nest was in a different location and nearly lost to the sun.
The nest on the patio successfully produced one fledgling. (The second chick died a day after our big wind storm. Amazingly the survivor lived for a week beside it's desiccated sibling. We considered trying to remove the dead chick, but the location of the nest made that difficult. The survivor was developed enough to try to escape and there was nothing, but cement, 12 ft beneath the nest. Ultimately, it was the right choice; the surviving chick is flying around the yard.)
So far this year all of the nests have been in our native Catalina cherry and its mainland relative the hollyleaf cherry. Only the patio nest was not in these specific plants. That is our key to having so many hummingbird nests in our yard–native shrubs. The growing pattern of the plants match the needs of the hummingbirds. Native plants also flower when the hummingbird mothers need food.
If you are keeping track, in 2019 so far, we've had :
- 8 nests
- one pair and three singleton Allen's hummingbird chicks successfully fledged - total of 5
- 2 chicks currently in a nest
- 4 eggs still being incubated
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