[Umpqua Birds] Re: Hummingbird update
- From: Stacy Burleigh <stacymb13@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: UmpquaBirdList <umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 10:30:16 -0700
Hi Francis,
I have a few answers to some of your questions about timing of things.
2 summers ago we happened to be in Sedona, Az for the International
Hummingbird Festival. Met a couple who had moved from New York to Las Vegas
upon him retiring as a magazine advertisement photographer. Upon moving
into their house, they find a big sign pointing to a hummingbird nest along
with a female Black-chinned hanging from a clothes line on the back porch.
They drop everything and began photographing it. After three years of
photographing the same nest and the subsequent clutches being born, they
publish a sweet photo story book, called First Flight, A Mother
Hummingbird's story, by Noriko and Don Carroll. They then spent the next 4
years video recording the nest using 2-3 video cameras and a special mirror
that was used to look down into the nest. I have that DVD by the same name
and re-watched it yesterday.
Incubation is 2 weeks from the time she starts sitting on the nest.
It takes 3 hours for the eggs to hatch, about an hour and a half to get the
eggshell cracked and then another hour and a half to get out.
It takes 3 weeks for the juveniles to leave the nest. The nest will expand
as the babies do and sometimes needs repair.
The babies will raise their butts to the top edge of the nest and the poop
will come flying out. (Now there's something to look forward to!). When the
babies start exercising their wings, only one can do it at a time due to
the space confinement which also means standing on the back of the other
while doing so. Once they do leave the nest, the mother continues to feed
them while they continue to learn how to fly, how to land on various
things, and how to eat themselves.
Prior to you sending out your own female hummingbird story, I had decided
at the next Birder's Meeting to offer up this video for people to watch and
then loan it to someone else to enjoy. Now, I think it would be nice to
have you be the first person to watch it, so you can get a view of what
you are about to see unfold. If you would like to get it, email or call me
personally and we will figure out a way to get it to you.
Stacy Burleigh
Melrose
stacymb13@xxxxxxxxx
480-330-3913
On Thu, Mar 26, 2015 at 3:18 PM, Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> Thanks Francis.
> I was noticing and contemplating how she trims the lower part of the nest
> with the black-and-white lichens--the white being the most noticeable--and
> the top part with the green moss. Considering that many animals (including
> fish) are dark on top and paler underneath, this makes some sense. Pale
> grayer coloration on bottom blends with pale sky as viewed from below
> (except maybe if you're under a front porch), while darker top blends with
> ground surface when viewed from above. Additionally, the upper surface of
> the female hummingbird probably matches that moss pretty well from above.
>
> Matt Hunter
> Melrose
> On Mar 26, 2015 10:13 AM, "Francis Eatherington" <francis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> The continuing saga of the hummingbird nesting outside our living room
>> window:
>>
>> She is still coming and going, but less so. Two nights ago she started
>> spending nights on the nest. Yesterday I took another 1/2 hour of video,
>> but it's mostly her sitting on the nest, bobbing her head back and forth.
>> Some of the more active segments I put together and uploaded here:
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ5BGtPzYsQ&feature=youtu.be
>>
>> This morning she is still coming and going. In a moment when she was
>> gone, I took my camera over to the nest, reached way up, pointed it down,
>> and blindly took photos of the inside. Wow, she has TWO EGGS in there.
>> Pictured here:
>>
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/15074242@N00/16315073384/
>> with the flash, and without the flash here:
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/15074242@N00/16936759991/
>>
>> I know know that all the movement you see in the latest video is while
>> she is on top of two eggs.
>>
>> Good thing we are having a global warming spring so her eggs don't get
>> too cold when she leaves. We have a neighbor, about 400 feet away, who has
>> a hummingbird feeder, so I assume she goes there.
>>
>> Our motion-activitated trail-cam didn't work out very well. While it took
>> pictures of us anytime we came near the front porch, it could not recognize
>> the movement of a hummingbird, even though it was just 4' away.
>>
>> We are are thinking about mounting the trail-cam higher, so it can look
>> down on the nest. We could put it in "Time Lapse" mode, so it automatically
>> takes a picture every xx minutes or hours.
>>
>> But we would have to do a lot of work (15-20 minutes) right near the
>> nest. Wouldn't that be too much disturbance for her? We aren't sure how
>> much she can take, and still be happy. We are not using our front door
>> currently, and my quick pictures of the nest today were the closest I've
>> been to it.
>>
>> We welcome any suggestions on how we can continue with videos/photos
>> without disturbing her. How long before the eggs hatch, and then how long
>> before they fledge? Not that we have to use our front porch anytime again
>> in the near future. While the show is somewhat boring now that she is just
>> sitting on the nest, it should get exciting again when the eggs hatch.
>>
>> Francis
>> Under the Callahan Ridge, off of Flournoy Valley road.
>>
>>
>>
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