Mamma Bird on Her Nest -Picture

15 years ago

Took a picture of this cute hummingbird sitting on her nest in my MIL's rose garden. My MIL thinks it's been there for a couple weeks. Anyone have an estimate as to when these eggs will hatch? I have not seen the eggs, yet. I hear there are two eggs and they are white. We live in southern California in Orange County. Our weather is very moderate.

Do you have an idea of what the name of this particular hummingbird is?

This nest can be observed from inside the house. I sit on the couch and pull open the vertical blind just a bit and peek out the window. It's a fascinating site : )

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Comments (10)

Sara_in_philly
15 years ago
That's a really cool picture!
houstontexas123
15 years ago
here's a website to compare

http://www.hummingbirds.net/species.html

guessing its an Anna's since they're supposed to be common in SoCal
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Laurie
Original Author
15 years ago
houstontexas123 - Thank you for responding and for providing that web site!

On another GW forum (Nature-Bird Watching), someone guessed it may be a Ruby Throated. I will study the site you provided and see which characteristics match up.
Laurie
Original Author
15 years ago
sara_in_philly - I read your other post on this forum. After observing this beautiful creature over these past two days, I can see why people are drawn to their beauty. I hope you will get some hummingbirds in your area very soon!

I spent some time over at my MIL's home this afternoon and observed this hummer some more. After reading the site about Anna's and Red Throated, I am not sure it is either one of those.

I looked for any signs of white on the wings or tail and found none. Her neck and chest is mostly white with a few specks of brown and one larger spot of brown in the middle of her chest. When she stretched up to groom her body, I noticed a very pale orange (rust) color on her body next to her wings. The top of her body is a shiny emerald green.

Another hummer came near her and hovered around for several seconds, went away and came back a few more times. He or she had some pale orange/rust on his or her body...a little closer to the base of the tail rather than the actual body. I don't know if this visiting hummer was the same specie or not. This visitor had green on it's back, but did not have any color on it's throat other than white.
jeff6456
15 years ago
Great pic, Laurie! Awesome sight to see!
Sara_in_philly
15 years ago
laurie_2008, I got my first humming bird sighting of the year yesterday (5/15)! I think they heard my complain:-)
houstontexas123
15 years ago
the site i posted (and also other hummingbird sites) has a link to the USGS site which includes maps of where the different species habitate. the Anna's is pretty much exclusive to Socal area. Ruby throat are pretty much only east of the Rocky mountains.

the descriptions of both female species are very similar, the Anna's has a few small reddish spots on it. which may be what you're seeing as orange/rust-colored spots.
Laurie
Original Author
15 years ago
Jeff6456 - Truly awesome, I am so intrigued with this!
sara_in_philly - Yessss!!! Hopefully, you'll see more and more with each day : )
houstontexas123 - maybe this is an Anna's like you say. I have posted a couple more pics below in case it helps you or others to confirm what species this is.
Any estimates as to when the eggs will hatch? (They're about 2-1/2 weeks old, now).

This picture was taken from the Back of the bird. If you look carefully, you can see the muted orange/rust color under it's BODY at/near the base of the tail.

This is blurry (taken from inside the house through a window). At the top of the picture, you can see a portion of the bird's white chest with dark rust colored spots.
Laurie
Original Author
15 years ago
One of the two eggs hatched , yesterday (May 20)!!!

We were able to take a picture during a brief moment when the mother hummingbird was away.

One day old......
Laurie
Original Author
15 years ago
The second baby hatched sometime between yesterday (Saturday) and today (Sunday 5/22). Once again, we were lucky to get a picture very quickly while mother Hummingbird flew away briefly. She does not go very far away!

We saw a little bit of movement of these babies. It will be interesting to see how much stronger they get with each passing day : )