They grow up so fast!

Baby broad-tailed hummingbird

Hummingbirds seem to do everything fast, including growing up.  It was just a week ago, this bird was nothing but matted feathers.  I suspect she’ll be ready to leave the nest in a few days.

Kids will be kids. Click for larger.

I visited the nest yesterday and was very surprised how fast this bird had grown.  I wanted to get a shot of mom feeding the baby, but I didn’t have the correct lens with me.  So I got up early this morning and hiked back to the nest with a bunch of gear.  These photos were very challenging from 35 feet away.   These birds are tiny.

Open wide! Mama's going to shove her long sharp beak into you.

She’s feeding it mostly insects.

Even deeper!

So this Wikipedia article says that this species incubates eggs (usually 2) for 16 days and the young will leave the nest in about 23 days.  So to recap:

Part 1:  The egg she is incubating is about to hatch or has just hatched.

Part 2:  I’m guessing the chick is about a 7-10 days old.

Part 3:  I’m guessing the chick is about 15-18 days old.

This was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I’m grateful to mama hummingbird for tolerating me.