Animals in your garden

[MaryMary]

I don't imagine @MaryMary humming in iglesia, but more like belting out a Roy Orbison tune in the library

Belting it out in a library, yes, I could see it, but... Roy Orbison?!

More like Tina Turner powerhousing "Proud Mary" !!


(Not that I can't, won't or don't sing Roy, but the growl Tina makes is a lot of fun!! .)

I think hummers got their name because of the sound their wings make because they move so remarkably fast they do kind of hum.

Yes, they got "hummingbird" from the sound the wings make.

 

[Larisa]

@Beverly , now we are waiting for the continuation.

I wonder when there will be chicks? 2-3 weeks?
I read that at night colibri can not feed, their metabolism slows down, and they fall into anabiosis. In the morning the colibri increases its metabolism several minutes to take off.

 

[Beverly]

I just looked up incubation time @Larisa and it says 16-18 days, but it will probably be shorter because it is warm here day and night (high 60's to low 70'sF at night, and high 70's to low 80'sF during the day) low 20'sC at night to high 20'sC during the day. It is typical that hummingbirds lay one egg, skip a day and lay a 2nd egg. Incubation starts when the 2nd egg is laid. So we start at Sept 20 and i'll check at Sept 30. I don't want to miss getting a photo of the little chickens, which i can take without trauma, without flash when mom is out gathering food for them.

 

[MaryMary]

For those who have never heard the humming of a hummingbird:

 

[zigs]

Mind you i have thought about why mariposas are called butterflies (butter, really?).

That reminded me of something

 

[Beverly]

@zigs

 

[Beverly]

AND another surprise two days later. Another egg appears in the nest.

From a September post of the new eggs, we have 2 new chicks ever so small. Little yellow beaks, fluff, no cheeps or peeps. No camera flash used so the photo it is a bit dark

 

[zigs]

Awwww, hummingfluff

 

[Larisa]

@Beverly So cute!!!

Who feeds them? Only mom? Or does dad take part?

 

[Beverly]

Who feeds them?

I am not sure if the dad assists in the feeding @Larisa. This is my first close experience with hummingbird nesting and i should have read about it more thoroughly than i did. Also, i am limiting my observations because i don't want to spook the little ones and/or the mom so i am not learning much by observation either.

If the mom is in the nest and i am in the garden, if i even look to see if she is in the nest, she flies away so i am keeping a low profile and hoping that both of the little ones will survive and be healthy. So far, so good. I think these little naked babies are about 2 or 3 days old. I have faith that the mom knows what she is doing. A good sign is that the Senecio (where the nest is) is now bursting out in flower and also the Lantana as well as the Shrimp plants so food will be plentiful.

 

[zigs]

Saw a hummingbird feeding station on the telly earlier

 

[Beverly]

@zigs according to the Audubon Society hummingbird feeding stations screw up the natural migration patterns of the hummingbirds because they create an unnatural food source. People have them anyway...lots of differing opinions regarding this. I think they do more harm than good for the hummers so i don't like them personally, but most people are going to disagree with that.

 

[zigs]

The ones i saw were being used on an island after a hurricane had destroyed all the flowers

 

[Beverly]

Ah, that is a very good reason for a feeding station then

 

[MaryMary]

Who feeds them? Only mom? Or does dad take part?

I am not sure if the dad assists in the feeding @Larisa. This is my first close experience with hummingbird nesting and i should have read about it more thoroughly than i did. Also, i am limiting my observations because i don't want to spook the little ones and/or the mom so i am not learning much by observation either.

Do you know what kind of hummingbird they are?

I watched a documentary about them a while back - they don't raise them together. The females tend to outnumber the males, so he mates with as many as he can, and the female raises them alone. The males are very territorial, and may or may not allow the female to even build a nest in their territory!!