Juvenile Rufous Hummingbirds- Selasphorus rufus

This June a friend phoned me up to report finding a hummingbird nest outside his dining room window. The nest turned out to be difficult to photograph from inside the house, but fortunately, the back porch offered reasonable views with a telephoto lens. Over the course of several days, I was able to observe the completion of the juvenile feather growth, and then finally the process of fledging.

Rufous hummingbirds are common summer residents of the Pacific Northwest, where they feed on nectar and insects. Two white eggs are laid in a small cup like nest composed of lichens, small twigs, and assorted other materials. The nest is lined with a soft layer of spider webs and cat-tail fluff. The young fledge 20 days after hatching.