I've set up five Hummingbird Houses
<http://www.hummingbird-house.com/hummhouse.html> around the property. One
of them has a web cam set up about six inches away - so I'm hoping to get
some good shots. I've got the camera on 24 hours a day, with the motion
detection software set to capture any activity. So far, nothing. The houses
come with some cotton waste for nesting material, and I haven't see any
activity around that either.



Dave Nuttall

NW Bellevue

Mailto:dave_nuttall at yahoo.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Brett Wolfe [mailto:m_lincolnii at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 13:43
To: Tweeters
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Re: Male Anna's Hummingbird Gathering Nesting
Material?



I grabbed a different book, one I consider better for finding breeding
information. It is "The Birder's Handbook: A field Guide to the Natural
History of North American Birds" by Ehrich, Dobkin & Wheye. In the section
on Anna's Hummingbirds, they do not say whether the male assist in nest
building or not, but does state "...male chases female to nesting area..."
and also "Nest is varied; oft in oak, also vine, brush, and human-built
structures; thick, well-insulated, of plant down bound with spider's silk,
lined with plant down and feathers. Building continues after eggs laid;
lichen added to interior."



>From this, IMHO, the male at the very least assists in the nest building,
possibly getting the basic structure built for the female, and then, as
stated above, chasing the female to the nesting area.



Anyone have any more info to refute my supposition from my reading? Maybe
someone actually studying the little buggers?



Brett A. Wolfe

Seattle, WA