Hummercam

Photo by Jim Ekins

Birds adapt to the urban environment better than most animals.  This hummingbird made her nest on the stray wires of a patio light/fan fixture.  Our neighbor set up a "HummerCam" to record this great National Geographic quality event which you can watch here: Noan's blog  A female hummingbird makes her nest from twigs and leaves like other birds, but loves lining it with soft things like feathers, cotton or dryer lint.  She glues it all together with spider webs which allow the nest to be flexible as the hatchlings grow.  The eggs are the size of jelly beans, and the nest about the size of a walnut.  Mama bird eats bugs combined with nectar and regurgitates it for the babies' nourishment.  Nectar alone won't do.  After about three weeks, the baby birds are ready to leave the nest, but mama will show them the best places to find nectar and bugs, and the cycle continues with the mother or another hummingbird often reusing the same nest.