I still don't think this mama hummingbird thought her nesting place all the way through. But our bougainvillea certainly is looking pretty, so maybe it wasn't the worst place.
Their feathers are really starting to fill in.
April 13th. The nest is getting a little smaller. This baby bird is sitting on top of the other one.
We've had a couple people ask for some perspective on the size of the nest. Theresa's holding a quarter in front of the nest so you can see the birds are maybe 1.5 quarters long.
They're pretty content in the nest though. Even though we're standing around and taking photos of them, they're closing their eyes sleeping.
One very unexpected thing we learned about hummingbirds is that they like to keep the nest extremely clean. You know what that means...
Our porch and the side of our house was a little messy...
The very last photo I have of the baby hummingbirds. They're really starting to get their color. We were so happy that we could be here watching them grow from such tiny little eggs into fuzzy little hummingbirds.
April 14th. I was doing a little bit of yard work and saw them as I was walking by all morning. That afternoon though, I noticed the nest happened to be empty. The babies have left the nest. We've learned that they'll spend the next 2-3 days flying around with their mother as she shows them the best places to find nectar and nest, then she'll chase them off to go live on their own. They aren't expected to ever come back to their nest again.
But just in case, we waited 4 days before we cut down the nest and cleaned up the area. We were watching the nest every day at all times of the day just in case they came back, but we haven't seen them.
Two tiny little hummingbirds fit into this nest.
Goodbye baby birds!
It's been neat watching them hatch & grow through your pictures! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI was actually sad to see the baby birdies leave. We had a dove who decided to nest in our back yard while I was in Delaware when Emma was born. He came home from work one day and they were gone. He was extremely saddened to not have their company any longer. It's funny how we begin to care for these little creatures.
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday I had the same thing happen. My little guys were sitting so still when I was going out to get my mail . And flew off just as I was coming back in ,so I got to see them go. Then I looked it up on Google and apparently they never come back to the nest. Good for them. Mommy will show them the ropes.
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