This morning around 7:20 I watched the hummer in her nest, doing something I never observe at any time other than on a Very Special Occasion. :)
99.9% of the time, if she's on the nest and moving, she's either adding material to the walls or floor, stretching it with her feet, or, after there are eggs, rotating them. But for several minutes this morning, she was in markedly restless, non-goal-directed motion, clearly uncomfortable and breathing hard. She was in labor.
At 7:30, she stood and made some subtly emphatic moves. Then, with her bill, she tended to what she'd just laid: her second egg. She sat back down, continued to breathe hard with feathers fluffed, even briefly closed her eyes. She was tired! A few minutes later she'd recovered enough to momentarily fly off. The rest of the day she commenced her first day of full-time incubation, interrupted often but briefly to nab an insect, chase off nearby songbirds or go for a quick drink at the feeders.
I was fortunate to catch the oviposition on video, and when I have more time, hopefully in the very near future, I'll upload it to YouTube.
As I'd guessed, her first egg was laid on ~Nest Day 5 (4/10). She began partial incubation yesterday, which is also the day she would have sought out a male to fertilize Egg 2. Her schedule is typical for RTHUs, and essentially identical to that of the bird I documented in 2022, when I was also able to film the laying of the second egg.
Having too much fun,
Janine PerlmanAlexander Mt.,Saline Co.
