Mom, I'm Hungry!
A fledgling hummingbird waiting to be fed by mom at the Sonora Desert Museum. I was surprised to see mother hummers fed their fledglings with regurgitated food, just like penguins and cormorants do.
A mother hummingbird will drink nectar and eat bugs and then regurgitate a slurry substance the baby hummingbirds can digest. She will feed this mixture to the baby hummingbirds approximately every twenty minutes. A baby hummingbird needs the mother hummingbird to feed them. Baby hummingbirds can not drink hummingbird nectar like adults do because there is not enough protein in the regular hummingbird nectar. The mother hummingbirds will still feed their fledging for two to three days after leaving the nest. During this time, she will show them all the good places to catch bugs and get nectar. Then she will chase them off to live on their own.
Source and more info: www.worldofhummingbirds.com/baby.php
Mom, I'm Hungry!
A fledgling hummingbird waiting to be fed by mom at the Sonora Desert Museum. I was surprised to see mother hummers fed their fledglings with regurgitated food, just like penguins and cormorants do.
A mother hummingbird will drink nectar and eat bugs and then regurgitate a slurry substance the baby hummingbirds can digest. She will feed this mixture to the baby hummingbirds approximately every twenty minutes. A baby hummingbird needs the mother hummingbird to feed them. Baby hummingbirds can not drink hummingbird nectar like adults do because there is not enough protein in the regular hummingbird nectar. The mother hummingbirds will still feed their fledging for two to three days after leaving the nest. During this time, she will show them all the good places to catch bugs and get nectar. Then she will chase them off to live on their own.
Source and more info: www.worldofhummingbirds.com/baby.php