This Bird Lays Eggs That Weigh Less Than an Ounce – Watch!

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What is smaller than the width of a dime and weighs less than half a gram? That would be the egg of an Allen’s hummingbird. This tiny bird lays tiny eggs and lives in tiny nests. We are fortunate enough to get to see an Allen’s hummingbird lay an egg in its nest in a YouTube video posted by the Hummingbird Spot.

In the video, you can see the little bird, named Sapphire, made her nest on a strand of Christmas lights. She arrives one day, lands on her nest, and lays one egg. After three days of sitting on her egg, occasionally rolling it and fixing up her nest, she lays her second egg.

Allen’s Hummingbird Size

Allen’s hummingbirds aren’t the smallest hummingbirds in the world. That would be the bee hummingbird that only lives in Cuba. Bee hummingbirds are two and a quarter inches long and lay eggs the size of coffee beans. Allen’s hummingbirds, on the other hand, are a little bigger at about three and a half inches long. Allen’s hummingbird eggs are about half an inch long.

Where Allen’s Hummingbirds Live

Allen’s hummingbirds live in Mexico during the winter. In early spring, the males migrate to their breeding grounds along the California and Oregon coasts, with the females showing up shortly after.

Allen’s hummingbirds closely resemble Rufous hummingbirds and can be difficult to tell apart. There is also a subspecies of Allen’s hummingbird that doesn’t migrate to Mexico but lives year-round in Los Angeles.

How They Build Their Nests

After the female bird mates with the male, she heads to a safe place to build her nest. Unlike many other bird species, the female Allen’s hummingbird builds her nest and cares for her young on her own, without the male’s help. This is true of all hummingbird species where the males don’t get involved in raising young.

The female will make her nest with several layers. The inner layer is soft and made from grasses, moss, and other soft plant materials. She’ll fill it in with fuzzy plant items like seed pods or dandelion down. It’s held together with spider silk. The outer part of the nest is made of things to camouflage such as pine needles or bark. In the video, the Hummingbird Spot tells us Sapphire used paint chips to camouflage her nest to blend in with their house.

How Long Does it Take to Incubate a Hummingbird Egg?

Allen’s hummingbirds usually lay two eggs per clutch, and it can be several days in between each egg being laid. Incubation takes around 17 to 22 days. During this time, the female will guard her nest and sit on the eggs to keep them warm. Once the eggs hatch, two helpless, naked chicks emerge.

How Long Will the Baby Hummingbirds Stay In Their Nest?

When the chicks are newly hatched they are entirely helpless and can’t see until their eyes open around nine days. During this time, the mother bird will bring food back to the chicks. The hummingbirds eat nectar from flowers and small insects.

The Allen’s hummingbird builds her nest so ingeniously that it stretches as the babies grow to fit them. They will only stay in their nest for around three weeks before they grow into fledglings and learn to fly.

How to Help a Hummingbird Build Her Nest

It’s not just the Allen’s hummingbird that uses soft material to build a nest. Other hummingbird species also look for moss, grass, and other soft materials for nest building. If you’d like to help the little birds out, you can buy hummingbird nesting kits online or at a wild bird shop. These hang up in your trees where birds can find them and take what materials they need.

How Can You Attract Hummingbirds to Your Yard?

The Allen’s hummingbird and other hummingbird species are threatened by habitat loss. The Allen’s hummingbird is listed as “climate endangered” by the National Audubon Society. This species breeds in such a small range that it is highly affected by loss of habitat. However, the good news is that the little birds seem able to adapt to urban areas and suburban gardens. You can help out by planting hummingbird-friendly plants in your yard or adding backyard feeders.

Hummingbirds love brightly colored plants, especially red, but they will come for nectar-rich flowers of any color. There are many species of flowers that bring hummingbirds to your yard. Some of these include phlox, bee balm, and red columbine. Hummingbirds are also attracted to sources of water like misting devices or a drip fountains.