Yesterday while out back longing for one last look at the first hummingbird chick that flew the coop late in the afternoon, a tiny flurry of activity near the back of the yard got my attention and sure enough there’s a near foot-long bushtit nest veritably buried and well camoflagued in the boughs of the tree centrally situated at the rear of the property:
The opening is barely visible up at the top right and when I approached the nest the bushtits that were busying themselves about its perimeter took off chirping noisily in an effort to distract me the intruder. But I meant no harm and just marveled at it hoping one of the teeny residents would return to light on its side thus adding a little life to the above static shot.
It’s interesting to note that the bushtit at its largest full-grown size is perhaps a third or more smaller than an Anna’s hummingbird. Yet the hummingbird crafts a nest that can barely contain two fledglings while the bushtit constructs what looks to be a veritable hotel:
Bushtit nests are pendant gourd-shaped bags typically between 7 and 12 inches in length. Composed of grass, leaves, and twigs bound together with spider web, these nests are usually lined with plant down, feathers, and hair. The entrance hole is made near the top of the nest at the side of the neck, such that the birds travel down a tube to the bowl of the nest. Nests are often decorated with materials such as flowers, feathers, or lichen.
Once the remaining hummingbird chick evacuates its home I’ll try to relocate the webcam to capture any activity around this cool place.
UPDATED (6/7): I attempted to get the webcam working, but moving the laptop to the nest in the far reaches of the backyard strained the wifi connection to the breaking point and made for very slooooow image uploads.
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