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As I looked through our living room window<\/strong> about two weeks ago, I caught sight of a female Anna\u2019s hummingbird as she zipped by and landed on a tall rhododendron shrub ten feet away. As my eyes focused, I realized this was no ordinary perch: It was a nest, barely the size of a demitasse cup, that was apparently in the final stages of construction.<\/p>\n This exciting revelation reminds me of why I garden: For life! I had known, of course, judging by the number of hummingbirds feeding in our area and their relatively small territories (males defend about a quarter of an acre) that they must raise their families close by, but I had never actually seen a nest in our yard and I never went searching for one, for fear of causing disturbance.<\/p>\n Without delay, my husband began to document her nest building, keeping out of her flight path and with a powerful camera lens. The first photos show a nest perhaps an inch tall; less than a week later she had clearly added on more material to its height. Through binoculars and over several more days I One day I realized she was spending almost all of her time on the nest, leaving only for 20 to 60 seconds to grab a bite to eat. Incubation had begun! For the past 14 days she\u2019s been patiently incubating her two eggs, which should hatch in as little as a day or two (incubation periods range from 14 to 19 days for these hummingbirds). MAJOR UPDATE: Baby pictures are here!<\/a><\/p>\n Hungry mouths A Little History Historically a Pacific slope species that overwintered from San Francisco to Baja California, Anna\u2019s are now fairly common year round in urban and suburban settings as far north as British Columbia, as well as wilder places such as open woodlands, chaparral, coastal scrub, and oak savannas. Since the change in range was relatively recent\u2014only since the 1970s\u2014and not a result of evolution, it is believed to have resulted from folks in the northern areas leaving artificial sugar water feeders up year round.<\/p>\n Conservation Because these birds (and other species) eat a large quantity of insects, don’t use insect traps and pesticides that lessen the amount of forage available for them. Spider webs, which hummingbirds collect food from and use as nesting material, should be left intact whenever possible.<\/p>\n![\"Anna's](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/MG_1423.jpg?resize=360%2C324&ssl=1\")
occasionally watched as she molded the nest by pinching materials \u2014 plant fibers like moss, bark, bits of leaves bud scales, and lichen, as well as feathers or fur, all held together by spider (or caterpillar) silk \u2014 between her bill, chin region, and chest while rotating her body. The interior was stomped on by her impossibly tiny feet. Nature’s silk is strong, sticky and stretchy (able to stretch up to 40 percent of its length without breaking), and helps make a nest that is flexible, expandable, and able to accommodate rapidly growing babies. The latest photos show that extra lichens were added as a finishing touch for camouflage (although I like to think that she added them as a charming decoration as well!).<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Anna\u2019s hummingbirds eat nectar from many flowering plants, including native cascara<\/a> and black hawthorn trees, currant, gooseberry, and manzanita shrubs, and many introduced species as well. Our little Anna\u2019s timing was impeccable: ![\"Ribes](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/realgardensgrownatives.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_0952.jpg?resize=350%2C344&ssl=1\")
She chose to place her nest within 20 feet of two native red-flowering currant shrubs that had just begun to bloom. Besides currants, other native early bloomers important to these solitary birds include osoberry and Oregon grape. Later on they’ll be attracted to the flowers of native huckleberries, ceanothus, twinberry, serviceberry, elderberry<\/a> and salal shrubs, honeysuckle vines, and perennials like camas, goatsbeard<\/a>, delphinium, alumroot, penstemon<\/a>, nodding onion, campanula, fawn lily, tiger lily, columbine, monkey flower, and milkweed. But Anna’s reportedly eat more protein-rich animal matter than other hummingbirds, consuming a wide array of small insects and spiders, plucked mid-air or from spider webs, crevices, or from trees and shrubs; native plants supply drastically more<\/a> animal matter than non-native plants. Their young must<\/em> be feed such foods; they cannot develop and grow solely on nectar. Occasionally hummers will also lap up tree sap leaking out from holes made by woodpeckers, and I’ve seen them sip the sweet juices leaking from overly ripe figs.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna<\/em>) was named after a 19th century Italian duchess, Anna De Belle Massena, by Ren\u00e9 Primev\u00e8re Lesson, a French surgeon, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist. Such an appropriately aristocratic name for a sparkling little bird!<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>While Anna’s hummingbirds are not considered endangered or threatened and can survive fairly comfortably in marginally developed areas, they are susceptible to many threats, including habitat loss, pesticides, predation, window collisions<\/a>, harsh winter weather, and sugar feeders<\/a> that have gone bad (it only takes a day or so in the right conditions!). Natural flower nectar is greatly superior to white sugar\/water mixtures because it supplies micronutrients and spoilage is never a concern.<\/p>\n