As I suspected the nestlings in the Palo Verde in the front of the house have begun to abandon the nest that has been their home for the last few weeks. The mother has really done an excellent job caring for her two offspring with a well built and well placed nest that has held together through a couple of very windy days, one accompanied by rain. The main solidifying ingredient in a hummingbirds nest is the spider webs that hold the nest together and also attach it to the tree or shrub where it is located.
This is the first fledgling to actually leave this nest. The other one is still in the nest but is displaying signs of being ready to vacate very soon. It's was on 3/10/14 that I spotted the first beak sticking up out of this nest, so just a little over two weeks for this remarkable transition.
After leaving the nest the fledgling has taken up residence in a nearby Texas Ranger where the mother continues to feed it for as many as a few days before it must make it's way in the world on it's own. I expect that the other one will find it's way to the same location very soon, perhaps some time today.
Not quite ready to make the leap this one is sitting on the side of the nest and exercising it's wings and waiting to be fed. Once it leaves the nest none of the family will return to the nest. As a side note the male does not participate in the building of the nest or the raising of the chicks or any of the care or training. All the work is left to the female who drives all other hummingbirds away if they approach anywhere near the nest.
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