[cobirds] Double-brooding by Broad-tailed Hummingbirds at Grandview Cemetery, FC (Larimer)

The other day I reported on the virtual proof that Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are producing two sets of young in the same summer at Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins.  Today was the slam dunk.  I borrowed a ladder, apologized to the female hummer sitting on the nest, went up, snapped the attached picture, and left.  This is the same female that fed a fledgling hummingbird less than 5 feet from this nest a few days ago.  Not only is this proof of double-brooding but it also proves this female found a male and got herself fertilized, built a new nest, and began growing eggs LONG BEFORE FINISHING UP DUTIES AT ANOTHER NEST OCCUPIED BY TWO VERY NEEDY NESTLINGS.  Throw in the likelihood that this female also might have engaged in defense activities, fed herself, and might still be involved in training/feeding of the fledglings and she seems to force one to come up with a better, more complicated term than just "multi-tasking".

                                                                      

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins