Tuesday, April 10

Hummingbird with Exquisite Decorating Taste

A hummingbird with a taste for festive home decor, this little bird built her nest right on a string of Christmas lights. You can see the scale of the nest and eggs by comparing their size to the size of the wire. They're tiny!

These two photos were taken by my sister, Kathy Allen, who lives with her family on Vancouver Island. The photos are copyrighted by her. Please do not reproduce these photos in any way. Thank you.

7 Comments:

Patia said...

Very cool!

Justin said...

When I was a kid we went back to Wisconsin to visit my aunt and uncle. They had hummingbirds out the wazoo - feeders all over their property and the little buggers buzzing all over the place. I've seen a few of them in these parts, but not very many. Usually when somebody says they've seen a hummingbird around here, I'll sit and watch for awhile and it almost always turns out to be a hummingbird moth.

I love Montana, but I sure wouldn't mind if we had more hummingbirds and fireflies. ;)

Maureen said...

Yes - really cool, Patia -- do you suppose she knows she's taken up residence in a red-light district?

Justin, I also wish we had more hummingbirds in our garden -- I have put hummingbird feeders out in our garden in spring and summer for several years. We occasionally see an actual hummer feeding here, but not enough. We also see those huge moths sometimes.

I lived for awhile out in Vancouver, BC and Seattle where we had so many hummingbirds coming to the feeder they'd quarrel over the feeding "stations" -- or they'd actually sometimes have a mid-air lineup waiting their turns.

Birders in Helena tell me there are plenty of hummingbirds here, but you have to have the feeders and/or right flowering plants in your garden to attract them. Trumpet Honeysuckle is a good one -- it's extremely hardy here. You might try growing the vine on a trellis in a sunny spot -- close enough to where you hang out outside that you can see the hummers if/when they do come around.

Ontario Wanderer said...

My first blog entry had a hummingbird on the nest. I was very pleased with the photo but it was not as good as your sister's. I've not had an opportunity to photograph one since. I am sure there was a nest last year but could not find it.

Maureen said...

thanks for that note, Ontario ... you took a perfectly good photo - it's so cool the way both "your" hummingbird and my sister's neighbor's hummer have the same decoration on their nests -- the lichen must function as a camouflage. Even though it almost seems this little hummer wanted somebody to notice her choice of nesting site!

In case anyone's interested in Ontario Wanderer's hummer on a nest, it's here.

Crafty Green Poet said...

that is just adorable!

Nancy said...

I'm so impressed with bird's nests and this one really takes the cake. Wonderful! Thanks for posting it.