Ruby Throated Hummingbird Nest

Once the shape of the nest is set the female camouflages it with lichen and other plant items.

Ruby throated hummingbird nest.

One reason the nest of the ruby throated hummingbird archilochus colubris is hard to find is because it is so small above. It is also well camouflaged with an outer layer of lichens although it may appear obvious on this naked pine twig when it contained eggs and young the nest was hidden by pine needles and cones. Ruby throated hummingbird archilochus colubris hundreds of kinds of hummingbirds nest in the american tropics and more than a dozen in the western u s but east of the great plains there is only the ruby throat. These brilliant tiny precision flying creatures glitter like jewels in the full sun then vanish with a zip toward the next nectar source.

It is typically placed in a protected location in a shrub bush or tree. The silk is especially important since it allows the nest to expand as soon to be hatched chicks grow. Feeders and flower gardens are great ways to attract these birds and some people turn their yards into buzzing clouds of hummingbirds each summer. The ruby throated hummingbird archilochus colubris is a species of hummingbird that generally spends the winter in central america mexico and florida and migrates to canada and other parts of eastern north america for the summer to breed.

Female ruby throated hummingbird may reuse old nests for several seasons and repair them annually. It is by far the most common hummingbird seen east of the mississippi river in north america. The nest is generally constructed on a small downward sloping tree limb 10 60 feet 3 18 m above the ground with an average of about 15 feet 4 5 m.