BIRDING TO THE EDG

Castlewood Canyon State Park lies about twenty miles south of Denver. I decided to check it out today for a little walk and some birding. All of the foothills birds are represented well there, but as I was walking down the trail I happened to see a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird fly away from me. The bird flew away, but stopped rather short on a branch so I knew I flushed the bird off of the nest. I carefully peered around only to find the above nest right on the edge of the trail. Quickly, I leaned over to count the eggs (2 off-white colored eggs) and then I stepped back about thirty feet. The female was hanging around and came back to sit on the nest once I was a comfortable distance away. The nest has a circumference of a half-dollar and the eggs are half the size of a pen cap. Really cool stuff. This was a first for me. These bird's nests are usually buried in the deep thickets and prying to see them usually meant disturbing the nest. Not worth it in my mind.


Check out the female here! This is typical from a plumage standpoint. The females have dark rufous on the flanks with a breast stripe as well. This bird has a postocular line as well as a straightish bill. Occupies low-mid levels in the forest, but males will perch really high to distribute their song. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds breed in the interior west and prefer semi-arid habitats even though this nest was found in an oak. This made viewing a bit dark and difficult, but I could really see detail with my Nikon EDG binoculars the amount of light that the binocular allows is pretty impressive giving us 10% more light than our Nikon Premier line.

The nest alone is very cryptic and can easily be over-looked. The inside of the nest is lined with a softer material that is mainly white. It may be down feathers, but I am not sure. The female is certainly territorial, but the male was nowhere to be found. These kind of encounters really make my time in the field worth it. Hummingbird nests can be exciting, because just finding them is a chore given the intensely small size.

I though this was interesting to share and I will have more for you very soon. Good birding!