Photo by John McCoy
The Bazaar Cafe (California near 22nd Avenue) has a lovely garden behind it, great for conversation over a warm cup of coffee.
Last Friday, another delight emerged from the garden when two baby hummingbirds emerged from Celeste’s nest (that’s the name the cafe gave to the mother hummingbird). Cafe patron John McCoy took these photos.
Some fun facts about baby hummingbirds, courtesy of worldofhummingbirds:
- The female hummingbird is the only one who will care for these little eggs. A male hummingbird does not assist with any of the childcare.
- When the baby hummingbirds hatch, they have no feathers and dark skin. Baby hummingbirds are hatched with their eyes are closed.
- When the baby hummingbirds are first born, the mother hummingbird will spend most of her time sitting on the nest, keeping the baby hummingbirds warm. As the baby hummingbirds grow more feathers, they are better able to keep themselves warm and the mother hummingbird can spend more time catching bugs and drinking nectar to feed them.
- The mother hummingbird will drink nectar and eat bugs and then regurgitate the slurry substance the baby hummingbirds can digest. She will feed this mixture to the baby hummingbirds approximately every twenty (20) minutes.
- Toilet training of baby hummingbirds comes built in. The baby hummingbirds will do everything they can to dispose of waste over the side of the nest.
Stop by the cafe to peek in on the action – it’s pretty rare to see these guys before they are whipping around as master flyers. 🙂
Sarah B.
Photo by John McCoy
Photo by John McCoy
Photo by John McCoy
Very cool! Reminds of a hummingbird encounter I had a number of years ago. I was watering my backyard and out the corner of my eye saw something hurtling through the air towards me.
It was too small to be a bird and too large to be an insect. Resisting the natural urge to swat at it I kept still and saw that it was a hummingbird! The little guy (gal?) was completely fascinated by the water coming out of the hose and was hovering near the nozzle.
It was so close I could actually feel the vibrations from its wings! It must’ve followed me around for a good 20 minutes or so darting around the water. It’d land here and there and then zip back for another look while excitedly chirping (or squeaking or whatever it is that they do) and buzzing around me.
Then it flew off, apparently bored.
Funny to see this Humming bird bit – one morning on my way to catch the bus to work, I came a cross two tiny birds on the sidewalk under a tree. I stopped and thought they were two chicks that fell out of a nest onto the sidewalk. It looked like they were stuck to each other or something and I was wondering what should I do. Then the two saw me, untangled and flew a away. It turned out they were humming birds, and since they looked like they were stuck to each other, my best guess is that I interrupted them mating.
I was lucky enough to have a mother hummingbird make nest in a brugmansia plant in my back yard at 46th & Balboa, back in about 1998. She had 2 eggs and both hatched. One day they were all gone, and we assumed they lived and flew the coop. We named the mother Bernice, with her kids Lwanda and Tyrone.
Very awesome pictures. I just love hummingbirds
Wonderful photos. It is difficult to tell for sure but this looks like an Anna’ hummingbird.
I had a hummingbird next on the window sill of my office (in “Slownoma”) during a difficult time in my work life. It was great.
I will note that hummers do everything fast, quick incubation period, quick fledge…