Q&A with Lanny Chambers
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Q. What is a hummingbird nest like?
A. It is not
much bigger than a ping-pong ball, a bottle cap, or a walnut shell. The female makes the nest with tiny
bits of leafy material including little lichens, and weaves it together
with spider silk. She builds the nest on a branch in a tree. A hummer
will not use a birdhouse.
Q. What are hummingbird eggs like?
A. Each egg
is the size of a small jellybean, a coffee bean, or a tic tac. There are two eggs in a clutch and the eggs are white.
Q. How long does it take for hummingbird eggs to hatch?
A. Ruby-throats
incubate for 11 - 16 days until the eggs hatch. Rufous hummers incubate
for 15 - 17 days.
Q. How much do newly hatched hummingbirds
weigh?
A. Ruby-throats
weigh 0.62 grams when they hatch. This means 3 newly hatched hummers would
weigh less than one American dime.
Q.
What do hummers feed their nestlings?
A. When the chicks hatch, they need protein, not sugar, to grow. So mother
hummer spends most of her time catching small insects and spiders for
them.
Q. When do young hummingbirds learn to fly?
A. Rufous and
ruby-throated hummingbirds both begin to fly when about 21 days old.
Q.
How long do hummingbirds live?
A. Most hummingbirds
die their first year, but when they've survived a full annual cycle, their
life expectancy goes up dramatically. The record age of a banded ruby-throated
hummingbird is 6 years, 11 months. The record age of a banded rufous hummingbird
is 8 years 1 month.
Q.
How do female hummingbirds select a mate?
A. Male hummingbirds,
along with many other animals, have what is known as a territory. A territory
is simply an area that a male occupies and chases other males away from.
A female hummingbird will visit a male's territory, at which time the
male performs a courtship display to try to convince the female that he
is the best male around. If she likes his display, she will mate with
him. If not, she moves on to another territory.
Q.
Do hummingbirds mate for life?
A. No. They
don't even stay together to raise the babies. The female does ALL the
nest building, incubating, and caring for the babies herself, and a male
hummer will mate with any females that he can attract to his territory.
These are NOT romantic birds.
.
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