One day as I was washing dishes I noticed something in the tree right outside my kitchen window. It’s a pretty sheltered spot, and a small tree (it was a ficus that my brother transplanted from a pot when we were moving in). At first I was worried it was something gross (because why wouldn’t it be?!) and then I realized it was a tiny nest. I would see two tiny beaks sticking out of the top. I watched as a mother hummingbird came down and fed the tiny babies. As time went by, I watched the nest eagerly. I took the pictures below of the two little babies from my porch:

After a while, I only saw one bird. I’m not sure what happened. I looked on the ground and never saw a baby bird, but there are a lot of cats in the area, so it may have been snatched up. 😦

One weekend we had a “big storm” (which, for those of you not in California, means some wind and rain) and I watched the nest nervously. It was moving quite a bit on that flimsy branch. In the morning, the nest was sideways. I was worried the baby bird would fall out and the mother couldn’t lose both birds! I searched online and found a hummingbird rescue group in San Diego. One call to them and they had me calling my local Fish and Wildlife office in Huntington Beach. The lady also gave me the numbers of several independent hummingbird rescuers and asked me not to give up if I didn’t receive responses at first–that baby bird was worth it!

Fish and Wildlife answered. A very nice lady told me, very calmly, that the best thing I could do would be to secure the nest. She said that I could either cut the whole branch and reposition it somewhere deeper in the tree, or us duct tape or wire to fasten it on the branch better. I asked her about touching the nest–I think it’s commonly believed that if a human touches the nest the mother will not return. She told me that was an old wives’ tale and that as long as the mother could locate the nest, she would come back. She warned me, though, not to remove the baby bird from the nest, as its feet are entwined in the nest for security, and I could break its tiny toes! Not that I would touch the bird–it was so little! I was nervous, but I wanted to help. I put on my rain boots and climbed into the wet planter. I took a stack of wooden clothespins and started winding other branches with the branch that held the nest. By sort of braiding them together, I made the branch stronger and twisted the nest back upright. I clothes pinned the branches together and didn’t need to get too close to the fragile, shaking bird. The mother returned and all was well. Weeks later, my grown up bird flew away.

Every now and again a hummingbird flies up to my kitchen window and hovers there. I think it’s the baby saying thank you. 🙂