Like honeybees and bumblebees, hummingbirds are an integral part of the pollination process. They’re also the tiniest birds in the world, with many species weighing in at less than a penny.
Hummingbird nests are so tiny and expertly camouflaged that humans often mistake them for a knot on a tree limb. Source: The Huffington Post
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A female hummingbird uses soft material like moss, lichen, cotton fluffs, bits of willows, soft plant pieces, dryer lint, and leaf hairs to build her nest. She will use spider webs to glue it all together. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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A mother hummingbird needs to keep her nest at the perfect temperature. If it gets hotter than 96 degrees Fahrenheit, the eggs will be too hot to hatch. Source: Gary Yost Photography
When baby hummingbirds hatch they are blind and featherless. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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Baby hummingbirds cannot fly, so they get all their food from Mom. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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The average hummingbird needs to eat 7 times per hour. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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Mom feeds her hatchlings by inserting her beak all the way down into her baby's mouth and regurgitating a mixture of nectar and insects. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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Male hummingbirds don't stick around to help raise their young. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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Baby hummingbirds double in size after only a couple of days. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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After nine days the babies have enough feathers to regulate their own body temperature. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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The baby hummingbirds start stretching their wings by gripping the floor of the nest with their feet and flapping. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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By week three the baby hummingbirds are almost ready to strike out on their own. Source: Gary Yost Photography
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The baby hummingbirds have left the nest. Mom will help them out for the next few days by showing them good spots to find flowers and insects, but after that they're on their own. Source: Gary Yost Photography
Julia Day is a New York based writer and illustrator. She attended Colby College where she studied 17th Century Poetry, Environmental Science, and Philosophy.
