Hummingbirds! : Bumblebee Hummingbird Breeding

The breeding season usually commences at the end of the wet season and the onset of the dry season, when many trees and shrubs are flowering. Hummingbirds are solitary in all aspects of life other than breeding; and the male's only involvement in the reproductive process is the actual mating with the female. They neither live nor migrate in flocks; and there is no pair bond for this species. Males form leks (groups of singing males that participate in competitive courtship rituals). The males will perform various songs to attract females, which may be brief warbles or a repetition of a few notes. Females may visit several leks throughout the day and select a mate based on his performance. A single male may mate with several females in one season. In all likelihood, the female will also mate with several males. Mating can occur on a perch or while hovering in the air He will separate from the female immediately after copulation. The males do not participate in choosing the nest location, building the nest or raising the chicks. The female alone is responsible for building the small cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers (about 1 inch or 3 cm in diameter), woven together and green moss on the outside for camouflage in a protected location in a shrub, bush or tree. She lines the nest with soft plant fibers, animal hair and feather down, and strengthens the structure with spider webbing and other sticky material, giving it an elastic quality to allow it to stretch to double its size as the chicks grow and need more room. The nest is typically found on a low, thin horizontal branch between 3 to 20 feet from the ground. The average clutch consists of two pea-sized white eggs, which she incubates alone for 14 to 16 days, while the male defends his territory and the flowers he feeds on. The young are born blind, immobile and without any down. The female alone protects and feeds the chicks with regurgitated food (mostly partially-digested insects since nectar is an insufficient source of protein for the growing chicks). The female pushes the food down the chicks' throats with her long bill directly into their stomachs. As is the case with other hummingbird species, the chicks are brooded only the first week or two, and left alone even on cooler nights after about 12 days - probably due to the small nest size. The chicks leave the nest when they are about 18 to 38 days old. The young will start breeding when they are about 1 year old.