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.
It’s not a very good photo, but it shows us 11 days later what was under the mother hummingbird.
Baby Broad-tailed Hummingbird
It’s hard to figure out what you’re looking at. It’s fuzzy stuff with a beak sticking up at one end. The bird’s eyed were tightly closed. Its chin is resting on the left nest edge; its tail is resting on the right nest edge.
It was raining and the light levels were low. The quality of the photo isn’t good. Because the camera was getting soaked and the baby was shivering, I decided not to spend more time getting a better photo, and allow mama to return who was waiting nearby.
Female broad-tailed hummingbird on nest. Click for larger.
Probably the most beautiful nest I’ve ever seen. She’s decorated it with pieces of lichen to make it more camouflaged. Click on the photo for the larger version and see the cobwebs she grabbed from the forest to glue the lichen to the nest. An amazing work of art.
She seemed at ease with me being close. I actually had hoped she would fly away so I could see what is in the nest. I will have to hike back in a couple of weeks and check on things.
