Sizing up a hummingbird nest
Chicken egg indicates size of hummingbird nest. (Bill Bender)
WILDLIFE WATCHING — How big is a hummingbird nest that held two chicks until fledging?
The chicken egg in the photo above tells the story.
South Hill resident Bill Bender followed the growth of the hummingbird family that nested on a bicycle-parts wind chime off his porch. Here’s his final report:
22 days from hatch to leaving the nest. Just for some perspective, here are pictures of the empty nest. Yes, that is a standard, store bought chicken egg, so that is how big the nest is. And the picture of the empty nest lets you know that the final nest was actually spread out larger, as the chicks got bigger. The original nest into which the eggs were laid was more like a cup, than the final soup bowl shape.
The other photo shows the two hummers at 17 days, filling the nest to overflowing just two weeks after they were so small they could hide at the bottom of the nest. One chick fledged at 21 days; the other a day later.
* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Outdoors Blog." Read all stories from this blog