Allen's Hummingbird Nest Taking Form

It isn't the prettiest nest, but this Allen's hummingbird is on day 8 of building her nest.

Allen's hummingbird nest on wisteria vine 3/15/2020

Three other Allen's females fledged their chicks between Feb. 27 and March 7th. The dry weather helped the five viable eggs all hatch and five chicks successfully flew from the nests. (Two pairs and one singleton)

This nest is part of the second round of chicks in 2020. It is nice to watch a positive bit of life happening in the yard.

So far 2020 is a much more productive year. 
The girls were challenged in 2019. 
The chicks of 2018 

Rescuing a baby hummingbird

Second Nesting Attempts by Allen's Hummingbirds

While most birds are working on their first nests of spring, the Allen's hummingbirds in our yard are on round two.

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.)

In the canyon part of the yard, we discovered a nest with two healthy chicks just after they had hatched. The two chicks are just starting to develop their elongated hummingbird beaks. You can just see the second chick's beak at the left side of the nest. These two should be flying in a week and a half to two weeks.

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 

Rescuing hummingbird chicks

Allen's Hummingbird Leaves Nest

Arrow points to Allen's hummingbird chick

OK, it is a poor photo, but I had to maintain a distance so the chick wouldn't become scared and take flight before it was ready. If you look closely, to the right of the arrow is a leaf and then a pale spot–the pale breast feathers of a Allen's hummingbird fledgling. The nest is about a foot beyond the right side of the photo.

Last week, this young hummingbird and its sibling were still in the nest.

Yesterday, the older chick fledged. If flew to the far side of the toyon bush. Though it stayed in the 'home' bush all day. It definitely was out of the nest.

The smaller chick, was actually from an egg laid two days later than the first. Usually Allen's hummingbird eggs are laid on two consecutive days. It has always been quite a bit smaller. Because of its pale brown coloring, I've taken to calling her 'Mouse'.

Though her sibling was calling and mom was encouraging, Mouse stayed in, on or next to the nest all day yesterday. She tried exercising her wings, but it was obvious she just wasn't ready to fledge. Early this morning she was still sitting on the nest's edge.

But after an hour or two, the morning sun has encouraged her to be brave. She has fluttered into the shade and away from the nest. (The dead leaves are on the branch we added to the toyon to shade the chicks over a week ago. That extra branch is still offering valuable shade to the hummingbird youngster.)

It is a scary, yet exciting thing to leave the nest. These chicks are less than a month old. Before the week is over, they will be on their own. 

Other Fledgling Hummingbirds
Rescuing a baby hummingbird
Other bird parents and their fledglings