I have decided it's time to add video to my blog so I set out the other day to practice in the yard shooting Hummingbirds at my feeder. There are several regulars that feed during the day so it's really not long before one of them shows up. I have several Costas that visit each day and I can tell the males apart by their physical characteristics and their behaviors at the feeder. For example one male who we call Rocky lands on the perch to feed while another male stays in flight to feed. They do not deviate from this pattern very often and coupled with body size and coloring it.s pretty easy to tell who's who.
Day One- Discovery
The females are much harder to identify and although they also have certain behaviors and markings that help to identify individuals it can still be challenging. Female Costas and female Black-chinned are very similar making an identification extremely difficult.
As I was shooting practice video I noticed this one female retuning to the same spot in an Oleander that is situated right outside the bedroom window. Curiosity lead me to investigate and I discovered the very tiny beginnings of a nest. Not wanting to stress the hummingbird during nesting I set up my camera in the bedroom behind the blind to watch this amazing process unfold. I will be capturing video daily to show progress on the nest which usually takes 5 or 6 days to complete and then hopefully be able to watch as the eggs are laid and hatched. Watching the tiny birds grow over the few weeks from hatching to fledging is the goal but it seems a little late in the season for success and anything can happen.
Nest building is done by the female and the males do not involve themselves in the process.
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