The Hummingbird Babies Have Arrived

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our hummingbird babies and the day has finally come! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The purple Chaste Tree is where she built her nest

This Friday it will have been two weeks since we discovered the nest.  In the past two weeks we have had two major wind storms blow through. We had winds up to 60mph tear through our neighborhood. Some of the gusts were so strong the house actually shook.  We were so worried that little hummer was going to blow away in her little nest. The tree she built her nest in, at some points during the storm, was literally bent sideways. She rode it out on her eggs the entire two days like it was a roller coaster.  It's unbelievable her nest held together through it all. She did an amazing job constructing it.

I don't want to upset her by checking on her nest everyday so I only come to check on her every couple days. She knows us because she buzzes around us while she gets her nectar from our backyard. Even so, I don't want her to abandon her nest because we got too close. 

Little baby hummingbird has finally hatched

Well, this morning while I was putting out new nectar I went to see how hummer momma was doing.  She wasn't sitting in her nest for a change so I took the opportunity to see how her eggs were doing. My heart stopped when I saw this little naked baby poking it's beak out. I only  had a brief moment to say hello to the new baby before her momma came back. From what I can tell it looks like only one of the two eggs has hatched. I would imagine the other will hatch in the next day or so. This one is definitely a newborn. He is barely moving and completely naked. I wouldn't be surprised if this baby hatched today!

Hello baby hummers! Welcome to the world:)

The nest is probably only an 1 1/2 wide. I have no idea how little hummer momma fits in there with two babies but she does.

I am picky about what I feed our hummingbirds and how the feeder is cleaned.I always hand wash them and am careful not to use any scented soap or leave residue behind. I also only put in a few days worth of nectar at a time so it doesn't spoil. It's hot out here in the desert and the feeders need to be cleaned frequently. 

As for the nectar,  I never use the red store bought crap.I made that mistake once. Besides,  the red isn't what attracts the hummingbirds anyway.  Studies have also shown that the red dye causes cancer in animals so it's best to just leave it out.

First little baby has arrived. Waiting on her second egg to hatch

Amazing little cup nest. Held together with spiderwebs

I always make mine from scratch. I use 1/4 cup of sugar to every 1 cup of water. The sugar alone has no nutritional value for the hummingbird.

I also like to add honey or agave syrup to my mixture. The addition of honey or agave syrup adds nutrients to the simple sugar solution.

I heat the water up just enough to dissolve the sugar and then let it cool before putting it into the feeders. It's also a good idea to use filtered water or bottled water for the hummingbirds.

I have filled our garden with plants that the hummingbirds are attracted to. This way they can get the nectar from real plants and also have the feeder as a supplemental source of nutrition.