Day 11: Spotlight on Mama Hummingbird

It's easy to be overlooked when you're competing with baby anythings. The other day someone asked about the female hummingbird and by chance I was able to take some pictures of her feasting on the hibiscus tree about three yards away from her nest in our backyard.

To view a recap of all of the baby hummingbird posts to date just CLICK HERE.

She is so delicate and graceful. If you want hummingbirds in your yard be sure to plant a hibiscus tree if you're zoned for them. The hummingbirds LOVE the hibiscus flowers.

She needs to eat a lot with three mouths beaks to feed. Turns out the male hummingbirds don't help in child rearing at all.

Taking a little break...

...before heading back to the nest.

Where hungry little mouths were waiting to be fed.

Lunchtime!

I couldn't resist. I had to get out my macro lens and skooch up a little closer to the nest to get this shot. Look at how the tiny pin feathers are beginning to burst from their casings. Soon the chicks will be little puff balls!

Watch on Youtube or full screen for best results.

I think their eyes will open all the way in the next day or two. I could see Itty's tiny eyeball moving beneath his/her shut lids and his/her eyelids cracked open just a bit. So cool! Sorry about the motion in the video. It looks like camera shake but it was actually the nest blowing in the wind, up and down and left and right, which made it very challenging to keep the camera focused!

I also noticed that one chick's beak is almost twice as long as the others. Guess that was the one that hatched first.