One day as I was following the flight of a hummingbird, I saw it landing on his nest. I took a bunch of pictures. Then I came back a couple of days later, she was still brooding. A week later I found the chicks were born and I couldn’t believe my luck to have spotted that nest, and be able to take these pictures.
But the happiness wasn’t to last. 3 days later as I went to check on them, I discovered the scene in the last picture of this series. The nest was gone, with only a few threads still attached to the branch. I immediately imagined a predator attack. I searched under the tree to see if I could find remnants of the nest but there was nothing.
Hummingbird sitting on his nest, presumably brooding.
I observed this hummingbird for an hour. Assuming it was a female, she would leave for short periods not lasting longer than a few minutes. I think it's necessary for hummingbirds to feed frequently due to their high metabolism.
Taking off for a brief absence
And back again for another brooding session.
And off she goes again. This was the last time I would see her doing this that day.
A couple of days later I went back and saw that the hummingbird was still brooding.
One week later I found the chicks were born. What an amazing sight that was!
The little guys are so hungry. But mom, or dad is not too far. See next pic...
Mom or dad is back to feed the little ones.
The adult is gone again to get food.
Just 3 days later I went back and found this sad scene. The nest had been ripped off the branch, presumably by a predator to eat the chicks. Nature is so hard.
Wow this series is amazing! It would make really great art/research reference.
Wow I did not even know about them except they are so fast and amazing. Never have seen chicks!