Raise your hand if you know what a hummingbird does with a spider web…yes, PeggyJoan, I see your hand first!
I am known to be quite impatient in waiting for the hummingbirds to appear after I clean and refill the feeder. Yesterday was cool, and I had a productive day managing to accomplish a few small chores, so I was feeling a little more charitable waiting for the duo to arrive for dinner.
The ruby-throated hummingbird is the most common hummingbird east of the Mississippi River. It migrates to Eastern North America in summer in order to breed. Since I have seen the female (perched on the edge of the basket) and the male (in all his colorful exposure flashing the red throat) but also as many as 3 or 4 at a time, I surmise this is a couple raising babies somewhere in a nearby tree. When they leave, they fly up over the roof toward the back of the house, which borders a heavily wooded area. The nest is made with spiderweb that stretches as the birds grow, which seems like an extraordinary skill.
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Suzassippi's Lottabusha County Chronicles 
A friend gave me a fern with a bird in it. That, or it was a very fast-to-get-there bird. Every time I try to water the fern, the bird flies out but then comes back a little later. I love your flowers. Kudos for leaving the spider web. They give me the heebie jeebies.
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Oh, I am not a fan of spiders or their webs, but as long as they are outside, I can tolerate them. And I had no idea hummingbirds used them! Cool fern with a bird story–one year my cuz had a bird build a nest in one of her hanging planters. 🙂
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That makes sense for the next to stretch. I keep hummingbird feeders up but I don’t know if they ever make a nest. The ruby-throated are impressive when they flash that bit of red. We had woodpeckers that feed on the feeders too and they look rather silly.
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But did the woodpeckers peck it to get it? I imagine it did look pretty goofy.Cornell Lab said the nest is the size of a thimble in the beginning, so I guess the stretch makes sense. Isn’t the ecosystem amazing?
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No, they apparently used their tongues as their beaks went down to the tiny holes. And the feeder would swing when they flew away. The ecosystem is amazing and we can see it in our own backyards.
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I had my hand up, but you told everyone what spider webs were used for. My mother had a wire strung between poles on her back patio. This humming bird built a nest on that wire one year. It was eye level and we could watch the birds, the babies, and the nest increase. It was amazing. Two days ago a Broad-tailed female Humming bird showed up at my feeder. This bird was so mean, she fought with the Ruby Throated male until he disappeared. The Broad-tailed Humming bird is normally seen in Arizona and Mexico. I was amazed that it was this far East.
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I knew you would know! What a great experience to see the nest and babies. I wonder why your visitor was ranging so far from home?
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Perhaps storms blew them off course. My husband thinks the changing climate may be causing them to increase their range.
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Both make sense, unfortunately.
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There were some beautiful hummingbirds at our feeders when we lived in Arizona. One golden male came – he was the meanest hummer I had ever seen. He was there only one year.
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I was in northern New Mexico once and we visited a casino that had so many hummingbirds outside it was like a festival. I must have taken a whole roll of film on them. Maybe I will run across those photos when I get serious about making headway around here! I was surprised by how many types of hummingbirds there were.
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Very interesting. Hope you find those photos some day.
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I recently saw a hummingbird in my San Francisco back yard gathering cob webs to make its nest, but I didn’t think about how the nest could stretch. What a cool bit of natural design! I hope the spiders get something out of it too.
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Probably a quick dash to the corners and the opportunity to make a new web? 🙂
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I learned something new. Until I read this post, I knew nothing about hummingbird nests.
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You are in good company, Sheryl. I did not know about hummingbird nests either, until I was looking up what kind of hummingbird this was. The Cornell Lab website on birds is really helpful!
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