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ODFW biologist Rick Boatner was lucky enough to have an Anna's hummingbird build a nest on a set of lights strung up between his house and the backyard recently. Watch the whole nesting process in this #Thread.
Female Anna's hummingbirds typically sit on the nest for 14-19 days.
The two hummingbird chicks hatched March 27, and as you can see, they don't look much like adult hummingbirds at this age. These tiny little critters are blind and almost completely helpless when they hatch.
Mom feeds them a slurry of tiny bugs and some sugar water or nectar. But to grow fast, which hummingbird chicks do, they need a lot of protein, which can keep mom running back and forth a bit.
The chicks grow quickly and fill the nest, which is built to expand to allow them to grow. They develop pin feathers, and they start to grow into their specialized beaks.
By Mid-April, the chicks have stretched the nest out as far as it will go, and they resemble adult hummingbirds much more than they did at the beginning.
The first chick takes the plunge and leaves the safety of the nest.
By April 17, both chicks are gone. Mom will take care of them for a week or two, and then they'll be on their own. Anna's hummingbird siblings will often stay together until the fall, when they will part ways to establish their own territories and begin the cycle all over again.
